Back in the Red (Stick) After a decade she’d had enough. Broke and broken she bore a pathway through the slums of New York city headed south in search of familiar— a more genteel way to raise two daughters one that offered more trees and fewer take-out menus, more grass and fewer guns, more gifts than griefs. But, in all, her leaving only traded pissy projects for rural city red lining. Once in it, she decided she would have to mother from there— plant their roots in the fruitless dirt, pluck the burs from and prune their cantankerous hair… And every morning she would water, and at night, lay, her watchful eyes upon them like the fullest moon then wait patiently, till their ever afters fought their way to bloom.
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Jacquelyn Grant Brown is black. human. mom. survivor. magician. yaya. healer. peacemaker. wordsmith. creative. student. teacher. traveler… She received the following degrees: B.S. Louisiana State University/English; M.A. Solstice @ Pine Manor College/Creative Writing. Other published work by Jacquelyn can be found in The Rumpus, Rat’s Ass Review, African American Review and others. Recurring themes in her poems often center around family, mothering, trauma & healing. Currently, she is editing her manuscript for publication, making art and celebrating second chances.
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