#Cinnamon

Your friends never told you 

Mothers are like cinnamon

That their eyes are factories of sugar?

When you were born, 

You tasted like a little war

A little atomic bomb 

Waiting to worsen other wars and burn the world. 

Then she looked at you 

You were crying 

And she said to you

"I can neutralize the poison in your eyes 

With the sugar in mine."

Didn't you ever know that

Your mother's breath tasted like salt?

You walked in and out of the room where she kept patience 

You robbed her of all the pleasures in the room. 

Every night she would cry and say 

"I have to sacrifice

I know I have to sacrifice

I just have to sacrifice" 

But you didn't care because you never saw those tears

But even when she was salt, 

She made your food worthy of being tasted. 

Foolish girl, didn't your friends ever tell you 

That you turn your mother into pepper 

And in order for her to be useful 

She grinded herself into paste 

So you would know that she is still sweet. 

Foolish boy, didn't you ever read 

That you can't build homes on whispers? 

Someone whispered to you 

That she is a witch.

So you walked into her house 

And started a war

Which she never recovered from. 

After everything she has done for you 

You only remember her

As a badly prepared food 

Which you gladly spat out.

Photo Credit: Maame Akua Acheamponmaa Boamah