Untitled

by Joslin Keim

Untitled by Joslin Keim

i am not a mother, so you can see why it might be hard to call her Heavenly Mother.

i am not a mother, i am only 20 years old!
i still feel like a child most days

i want to know what She is like now, at my age—who the Goddess was
(and is) outside of this role.

does She cut her own bangs in the bathroom?
does She drive through small towns in cars full of friends, screaming lyrics to songs from the early 2000s?
does She laugh so hard that Her sides ache?
does She weep over what Her sons do to Her daughters?
does She fail tests? fail classes?
does She change over time?
does She cry, overwhelmed, having no clue what she’s doing or how her future could turn out?

does She doubt her faith instead of her doubt
doubt the straight
and narrow

THIS is the Mother, this is what i need Her to be—something more than
Mother.
someone reflecting mine own image: a frustrated, struggling twentysomething.

Five black women talking and laughing