“Mama” by Maddy Ringo

Illustration by Arts and Literary Journal staff editor Lauren Hahn.

Do all your grieving

Fold up the blankets

Empty your boxes

Full up with yarn

Send out your letters

Call up your mother

“This house feels so empty,

My baby is gone”

Black beans and collard greens

Wait on the table

The dishes are done

The door makes no sound

Bath towels on the floor

Where you sit crying

The warm rushing water

She’s laughing forever

Maddy Ringo is a musician and writer from Toronto, Canada. She is studying Voice Performance at the SMTD. This is a poem (and later a song) that Maddy wrote in her head in the middle of the night during her first few weeks at school. She was missing her mom a lot, but she carried a guilt for feeling like she was ready to be here. It’s about that feeling — grieving someone else’s loss.