ALL THE WAYS MY MOTHERS SEE ME

Abstract

“All the Ways My Mothers See Me” is a collection of poems, meditating on the self-exploration of my intersectionality as a black woman and how these selves have been raised. These poems are an intimate investigation of what it means to be mothered, whether through female relationships and interactions or how the places I’ve lived have influenced my poems and myself. Divided into three sections, the poems emerge from the self interrogating memories with their biological mother and adoptive mother, along with the influence of cities such as Petersburg, Virginia and Charlottesville, VA. Though these themes seem disparate, the poems that focus on previously mentioned cities, study major historical people or events showcasing how I’ve been affected and also nurtured by these cities, people, and events. This collection is a culmination of varied approaches of what it means to be mothered and how these processes continuously affects the self.