Mother Swamp (A Point in Time collection)

Jesmyn Ward wrote this, so of course, it’s beautiful. In her note at the end of this short story, she describes how the idea for it emanated from her research on her novel in progress. (I can’t wait!) The books she read told about “people who escaped slavery in America, and details how they managed to survive.” One of the books tells of American maroons who “escape and dug caves into riverbanks, for shelter, living in such dwellings for long periods of time .” In this beautiful short story, she imagines “what if there were a maroon settlement in the wilderness that sprang from one escaped woman?” Ward’s gorgeous writing is like reading and listening to a poem about women, their daughters and their daughters …Just beautiful . My first experience with listening and reading simultaneously. The narration was perfect.

( One of Amazon Original Stories , A Point in Time Collection. All seven stories on kindle + the Audible are included with a Prime membership.)

Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward latches on to the psyche and won't let go. I couldn't stop thinking about this story. It enthralled me in ways I really didn't expect. The clinging to the old ways and the desire to break free battling in this story of survival demonstrate the lengths people will go to to survive and to propagate. When First Mother develops a plan to keep her lineage alive and follows through with it, it's a risk that starts a ritual that feels at once necessary, uncomfortable, and unsustainable. Ward writes beautifully of the world she creates in the woods and the relationship/non-relationship between the two communities with similar goals. Mother Swamp explores how rituals can become traditions that stymy the recognition of options to achieve goals with a subtly and brilliance that never get in the way of the story itself.

This is short story from the imagination a powerful author that evokes a lot in a quick read (from the “a point in time” series on Amazon — free if you have Kindle Unlimited).

“And what would it mean for these women to constantly choose, through generations, the kind of freedom they would have found in the swamp: freedom from gender roles, freedom from patriarchy, freedom from slavery and external racism? What would that freedom look like? What were its costs, what were its gifts, and could it evolve? I like to imagine that it could have, and that it did.—Jesmyn Ward”

The timing of me reading this book was coincidental, but it felt like the perfect Mother’s Day story. I saw my family history in these pages. I wear it as a badge of honor that I come from a line of strong, fearless women. Each generation has passed on so many intangible traits necessary for survival. This story spoke to that kind of lineage. It highlighted how woman make do with or without the presence of a mate. Reading this reminded me of how empowered I feel when I listen to Dianne Reeves’ song ‘Endangered Species’. Ward’s delivery was melodic, but not as fluid as I would like. The message was still received.