--- description: My mother grew morning glories that spilled onto the walkway toward her porch Because she was a woman with land... title: ‘Foreday In the Morning’ by Jericho Brown image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1200d2b17764e885/6989365386f68eb5216e9bcb/foreday-in-the-morning-brown-option-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [American South](/tag/american-south/) ## American South Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Foreday in the Morning by [Jericho Brown](/author/jericho-brown/) ## Jericho Brown Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 26, 2018 11:05 AM CUT  Side facade of cottage on Pulaski Street, Tybee Island, Georgia. Homes on this street were formerly barracks for enlisted men when Fort Screven was an active military installation. Side facade of cottage on Pulaski Street, Tybee Island, Georgia. Homes on this street were formerly barracks for enlisted men when Fort Screven was an active military installation.Joseph Shields—Getty Images by [Jericho Brown](/author/jericho-brown/) ## Jericho Brown Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 26, 2018 11:05 AM CUT My mother grew morning glories that spilled onto the walkway toward her porch Because she was a woman with land who showed as much by giving it color. She told me I could have whatever I worked for. That means she was an American. But she’d say it was because she believed In God. I am ashamed of America And confounded by God. I thank God for my citizenship in spite Of the timer set on my life to write These words: I love my mother. I love black women Who plant flowers as sheepish as their sons. By the time the blooms Unfurl themselves for a few hours of light, the women who tend them Are already at work. Blue. I’ll never know who started the lie that we are lazy, But I’d love to wake that bastard up At foreday in the morning, toss him in a truck, and drive him under God Past every bus stop in America to see all those black folk Waiting to go work for whatever they want. A house? A boy To keep the lawn cut? Some color in the yard? My God, we leave things green. _Brown, a Louisiana native, is the author of The New Testament and Please_ _This story is part of TIME’s August 6 special issue on the American South. Discover more from the issue_ [_here_](http://time.com/longform/american-south/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5349540/jericho-brown-poem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5349540/jericho-brown-poem/"},"headline":"Foreday in the Morning","datePublished":"2018-07-26T11:05:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:58:13.945Z","description":"Previously unpublished work from Southern poets","url":"https://time.com/5349540/jericho-brown-poem/","keywords":["American South","Poetry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1200d2b17764e885/6989365386f68eb5216e9bcb/foreday-in-the-morning-brown-option-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jericho Brown","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jericho-brown/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1200d2b17764e885/6989365386f68eb5216e9bcb/foreday-in-the-morning-brown-option-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"foreday-in-the-morning-brown-option-2","caption":"Side facade of cottage on Pulaski Street, Tybee Island, Georgia. Homes on this street were formerly barracks for enlisted men when Fort Screven was an active military installation.","creditText":"Joseph Shields—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/american-south/","name":"American South"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5349540/jericho-brown-poem/","name":"Foreday in the Morning"}}]}] ```