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Poetry Out Loud Project. By: Taira Griffin. Momma Said By Calvin Forbes. The slice I ate I want it back Those crumbs I swept up I’d like my share again I can still taste it like it was The memory by itself is delicious Each bite was a small miracle Both nourishing and sweet
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Poetry Out Loud Project By: Taira Griffin
Momma Said By Calvin Forbes The slice I ate I want it back Those crumbs I swept up I’d like my share again I can still taste it like it was The memory by itself is delicious Each bite was a small miracle Both nourishing and sweet I wish I had saved just a little bit I know it wasn’t a literal cake It’s the thought that counts Like a gift that’s not store-bought Making it even more special Like a dream that makes you Want to go back to sleep You can’t have your cake And eat it too Momma said I was defiant and hardheaded And answered yes I can too The look she gave me said boy I hope you aren’t a fool all your life. Published July 2011
Literal Meaning: The slice I ate I want it back Those crumbs I swept up I’d like my share again I can still taste it like it was The memory by itself is delicious Each bite was a small miracle Both nourishing and sweet I wish I Making it even more special Like a dream that makes you Want to go back to sleep You can’t have your cake And eat it too Momma said I was defiant and hardheaded And answered yes I can too The look she gave me said boy I hope you aren’t a fool all your life. This poem is not really about cake. In lines 15-16 it says: “You can’t have your cake And eat it too Momma said” Obviously once you already ate the cake, you don’t have it anymore. Which means you can’t have it both ways.
Figurative Meaning: The slice I ate I want it back Those crumbs I swept up I’d like my share again I can still taste it like it was The memory by itself is delicious Each bite was a small miracle Both nourishing and sweet I wish I had saved just a little bit I know it wasn’t a literal cake It’s the thought that counts Like a gift that’s not store-bought Making it even more special Like a dream that makes you Want to go back to sleep You can’t have your cake And eat it too Momma said I was defiant and hardheaded And answered yes I can too The look she gave me said boy I hope you aren’t a fool all your life. Knowing this poem isn’t about cake but about how you can’t have something and do it too. Like in lines 15-20 it says: “You can’t have your cake And eat it too Momma said I was defiant and hardheaded And answered yes I can too The look she gave me said boy I hope you aren’t a fool all your life” Meaning the mother is trying to tell her son something that has to do with life when he grows up and becomes a man but, the son is being defiant and hardheaded. His mother doesn’t want him to be a fool all his life and make the wrong decisions.
Momma Said By Calvin Forbes Imagery: In lines 1-4 says: “The slice I ate I want it back Those crumbs I swept up I’d like my share again I can still taste it like it was”
Momma Said By Calvin Forbes About Calvin Forbes (Biography) • The seventh of eight children, Calvin Forbes was born in Newark, New Jersey, on May 6, 1945. • Teaches writing, literature, and jazz history at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. • Blues and jazz inform both the rhythm and content of his poetry. • He often uses ballads to tell family stories or the ups and downs of romance. • He also taught himself a good deal about the art of poetry, reading books of poetry.