Tumbleweed (Maya Angelou & Grandmother) Poem by Nika McGuin
Tumbleweed (Maya Angelou & Grandmother)
'God please, let Momo live to be 100'(childhood prayer)
Maya Angelou(April 1928 - May 2014) R.I.P.
These two events, for me have meshed together
like a tumbleweed that snowballs in size
Losing Maya was like losing an extrafamilial grandmother
the unthinkable had finally happened
Somehow I knew the time was approaching
because she was the only poet
out of the top 5, who was still alive
but I always pushed such thoughts back
But here's how the two become intermingled:
ever since watching 'Fools Rush In' as a kid
I've always been a firm believer in signs
It has brought me both joy and pain
this instance would be the latter
Four days after Maya Angelou's death
my grandmother passed out outside of her home
It happened so suddenly, so frighteningly
that it sent a shock through the entire family
It's a large family, and Momo(my grandmother)
has always been our leader, our rock, and our center
to have that rock become so delicate, was beyond belief
before my eyes flashed a daunting possibility
That I could soon be losing my real grandmother
that the loss of the beloved Maya Angelou
is a sign, is some cruel preparation
for the pain I'll have to endure in the future
Needless to say,
I'm a ball of emotions at the moment
or a tumbleweed, whichever you prefer
Though everything checks out okay with my grandmother
I can't help but be shaken by the idea of it
I have to at least admit, that I'm immensely afraid
to some it might sound crazy to correlate these events
but to continue denying it would make me
an even crazier, emotional tumbleweed
Nika, i'm glad YOU said it is not a poem. i wonted to say it, but didn't dare. and maybe we are both wrong? no matter. it was good you felt you could help unload some of your feelings on PH. i've seen much worse on this site! and it was considerate to not bother bringing it up with your family. :) thanks for sharing. keep your memories! look to your future! ! bri :)
Nika, i'm glad YOU said it is not a poem. i wonted to say it, but didn't dare. and maybe we are both wrong? no matter. it was good you felt you could help unload some of your feelings on PH. i've seen much worse on this site! and it was considerate to not bother bringing it up with your family. :) thanks for sharing. keep your memories! look to your future! ! bri :)
It may not be a poem in the formal literary sense, but it's certainly poetic. At the heart of it is this fusion of Maya Angelou and your grandmother, and the linking of distant realities and their now immediate presence together in your life/consciousness - that's the essence of poetry. The first time I read this I just read it for its feelings and they tugged mightily at my heart. In subsequent readings the writer in me saw the need for revision, we have trained ourselves to be alert to these things, it's a double vision of language, both its truth and its beauty, both meaning and craft. If you revise it, it WILL be a poem in the formal sense. But never discard this draft, it is a precious reminder of the love you shower on both Maya and Momo, and that's priceless, isn't it?
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/24/2024 10:27:18 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Nika... I really feel that the title you have chosen for this tribute to Maya Angelou and your grandmother is very apt! Even though they are dead, with their death, the seeds of their thought will propagate in congenial soil and will bear flowers and fruits! I can guess how much of feelings you have for your Momo!