tender ~ a black boy song (for Jordan & Nicholas) | JP Howard
tender ~ a black boy song (for Jordan & Nicholas) my two suns are light and joy and black brilliance sometimes my youngest son is all teen talkback my oldest, all queer young adult swag together they be black boy magic my sons be black boy magic they quote baldwin & lorde & lawd how they still shine in amerika even when they argue, they have each others backs in our house boys can cry or dye their hair color of the rainbow our home is a rainbow, our boys are a house filled with love our teen asked his big brother how to shave his newly grown pandemic beard last night his big brother surprised him with his first beard trimmer set lovingly showed his younger brother how to shave for the first time first to wet his face, then spread shaving cream and gently guide the blade without cutting himself they root for each other, like nobody’s business they been marching together for pride and black lives since they could walk our oldest son has no patience for his two mamas and our questions, but this past semester, during a pandemic, let his little brother talk to him for hours on end by video chat, about nothing and everything, at least once a week while sheltering-in 3,000 miles away on his California campus some days my mama heart bursts or breaks for black boys what i am trying to say is every black boy is my son all suns are black boys shining
__
JP Howard is an educator, literary activist, curator and community builder. Her debut poetry collection, SAY/MIRROR (The Operating System), was a Lambda Literary finalist. She is also the author of bury your love poems here (Belladonna*) and co-editor of Sinister Wisdom Journal Black Lesbians–We Are the Revolution! JP is a 2020 featured author in Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools program and was a Split this Rock Freedom Plow Award for Poetry & Activism finalist. JP is featured in the Lesbian Poet Trading Card Series from Headmistress Press and has received fellowships and grants from Cave Canem, VONA, Lambda, Astraea and Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). She curates Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon, a NY-based forum offering all writers a monthly venue to collaborate. Her poetry and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in The Slowdown podcast, Academy of American Poets, Anomaly, Apogee Journal, The Feminist Wire, Split this Rock, Muzzle Magazine, and The Best American Poetry Blog. Her poetry is widely anthologized. JP holds a BA from Barnard College, an MFA in Creative Writing from The City College of New York and is Editor-At-Large of Mom Egg Review VOX online. http://www.jp-howard.com
__
Raising Mothers is a free online literary magazine for BIWOC and non-binary parents of color. As little as $1 a month goes a long way towards supporting our editorial staff and contributors while keeping us ad-free. Become a patron today!