Melaina Williams | The Thesis & Speak Your Name

The Thesis

By Melaina Williams

To study life watch a child chase bubbles as they brilliantly take up on air and then . . . POP! leaving a mist of soap water freckles on the skin.

A very present joy and a very present longing for more.

Speak Your Name

By Melaina Williams

Mama, you’re not invisible. You’re not behind the scenes. We see you stoking the fre to tiny dreams,

getting up in the middle of the night just to check if that tummy is rising just right, making sure the milk is right on time.

Mama, you’re not forgotten especially at the end of the day when you don’t know what you’ve accomplished and you don’t have any words to say

but the house will tell it all. Oh, how you’ve baked love into the walls and prayers into the foorboards.

Mama, you’re not alone. Locked up in a lonely cell. There’s other mamas with that same story to tell

or the same question to ask, same frustration to face, same marathon to race.

So Mama, keep showing up even if that means you bring tears into the space, a cookie too many in the middle of the day, a walk around the neighborhood to escape, a discussion with a father that’s long overdue, a decision to start a career anew or end one to fnd what is more true to the you

you are becoming everyday

‘cause Mama, you are everything and not enough all at once.

That’s a beautiful thing: to be the caregiver and the one in need of care.

Mama is a prefx to YOUR NAME HERE. What is your name Mama?

Say your name, Mama. Speak your name, Mama. Shout your name, Mama. That’s your name, Mama.

Many mamas before you gathered you up to ceremony that name over you just as you consulted with them for your little ones.

You are not bottles, diapers, hospital visits, work emails, discount days, spit up, breakdowns, strollers, pots, and pans.

You got veins and blood and cells, Mama, and lungs and spine and heart and soul, Mama, spirit, Mama.

Yes, Mama, more than us seeing you, You better see yourself. You better wake up and speak your name.

MELAINA WILLIAMS is a poet, playwright, singer/songwriter from Inglewood California. She fnds great joy in connecting with people of all backgrounds through creative arts, especially creative writing. Melaina studied Creative Writing and Theatre at USC. Her book of poetry, “Bless Your Sweet Bones” was published by the historical World Stage Press in Leimert Park. She also penned, “The Humble Commode” a chapbook. She currently lives in Los Angeles and spends her days writing and bingewatching Cocomelon with her daughter.

Engage with Melaina’s Story:

Write from the perspective of someone witnessing all the work that goes into being a mother – your daily living, the routines, the struggles, the wins. Read it back to yourself and take it all in.