I won an award or Yay me

So, my first year in the MFA program at the University of Memphis is coming to an end. And the school gives out awards at the end of the spring semester. I entered the poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction category. And placed in both the fiction and creative nonfiction categories.

Here’s an excerpt from the essay, “Protecting My Black Son,” that garnered my first award:

“The other day I was coming home from work when I saw my son standing outside on the porch. A large tree sits in our yard, branches outstretched like arms. My son, at first, didn’t see me pulling up because his face was turned up toward the sky. Or the tree. Seeing him standing on the porch, I experienced immediate and conflicting feelings. It was unseasonably warm out and I could see why he wanted to stand outside on the porch, to just stand outside and enjoy the warm night air. I also thought about the way I’ve always known that some people take joy out of stealing the life from a black boy body. “What are you doing outside,” I asked him. “Standing,” he replied. And I stood there trying to come up with the words to demand that he go back inside. That he not stand out on the porch, making it easy for someone to come along and steal the life out of his body.”

The awards luncheon is this week at the University of Memphis. I can’t wait. In the meantime, I am supposed to be revising poems.

Peace & Love,

Rosalind