Poetry review – WASH: Charles Rammelkamp relishes Ebony Stewart’s lively and down-to-earth take on life
WASH
Ebony Stewart
Button Poetry, 2025
ISBN: 978-1-63834-120-8
$16.00, 104 pages
‘I saw this meme that said female dragonflies will fake their own death to avoid mating with an unwanted male.’ So begins Ebony Stewart’s poem, “Dragonflies”. Many of the poems in WASH address this issue of coping with relationships and self-image. Indeed, the very first poem in this impassioned series of poems, “Hello,” sets the tone: ‘Hello, emotional labor.’
In her bio note at the end of the collection, we learn that Stewart, a performance artist and former sexual health educator, uses her platform ‘to uplift, educate, and ignite meaningful change in the world.’
Stewart’s voice often takes the tone of advice given by somebody who has been around the block a few times. The title poem, for instance, which pays homage to Jamaica Kincaid’s 1978 piece, “Girl,” is pure instruction. ‘Wash your clothes on Sundays,’ it begins and later goes on:
Watch how you play with boys. Boys become men, men know how to
make you dirty, make you less than. Don’t play those games.
The poem, “A Human Being Lives Here,” is instructions to a niece, though the lessons are universal. It starts, ‘When my niece asks me how to be a womxn, I…’ She goes on for two pages with heartfelt wisdom:
Be a womxn.
Something of a warrior,
something of an orator,
operator,
with the biggest appetite, letting you eat first.
Crotch mouth,
crow toes,
eagle wings.
Can’t sleep ’cause the brain don’t do nothing but think.
By the end, Stewart has enjoined her niece to be strong, assertive, self-confident, taking zero shit from ‘men in suits or hoodies eager and inviting / discomfort,’ deceitful creatures who bang on your door, ‘haunting your panties—they won’t even remember your name.’
When they come, tell them
they won’t find no dimes, no cages, no keys,
but queens and sharks and bullets.
A human being lives here
that be womxn and nothing else.
You tell them your auntie
taught you everything you know.
Many of the poems use this strategy of encouraging, demanding, imploring and beseeching the reader to positive, self-preserving action. “Number One Fan” gives advice to someone contemplating getting back together with an abusive boyfriend (‘Hey, gurl, there’s no need to be gentle once broken is done.’); “Apologies, Regretted Memories, Admitted Mistakes, & Other Ways to Take Ownership,” employs erasure to make its point ; and in “Note to Self,” as its title suggests, the advice is applied to herself
Sprinkle courage.
Pour confidence.
Mix
here you go,
be brave.
Now believe it.
Go the distance.
Move from hoping
to making it happen.
“Womxn God” and “Dark Star” are other good examples of the same approach.
Some of Stewart’s more coy poems cleverly use metaphor to make the same point. “Shopping While Hungry” begins ‘Be honest’ and then uses a sort of shopping list to underscore the message.
Flour
Gotta protect myself
I’m a womxn
that come with
a whole lotta flavor
You tasty girl
Damn girl,
you delicious
You got all kinda seasoning
Put yo whole foot and the kitchen sink in
Taste so good
make me wanna SOP YOU UP WIT BISCUIT
“Labyrinth: A maze difficult to solve” employs unique typographical strategies to make its point about the challenges of life that a woman faces and her own strength in overcoming them, Stewart an example for others. Some verses are printed upside down, others skewed on the page. ‘I get / shxt / done through abandonment, misunderstandings, and / disappointment and never have I ever given up.’
She can also be hilariously sassy. The poem, “Single,” begins:
I’m so single
I look on my calendar for dates
I’m so single
If it’s a trip for two,
I gotta go twice
Ebony Stewart writes in the tradition of strong Black women. Her poems are full of allusions to writers like Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange (“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf”), and Bell Hooks. Indeed, the epigraph to the collection is from Hooks: “for the womxn who will not be loved.”
Stewart celebrates gay love and bi love as well, in poems like “Have a Ball” and “Twitter Girl W/ Fingers” and “Blue”:
I’m sorry
I keep spinning the bottle and kissing you in the closet.
I’m sorry
I keep making what we have
seem like I chose a date rather than the truth.
I’m sorry I can only hold you back when no one’s looking.
I’m sorry
I am not brave enough to love another woman out loud
in the way that I love you.
Ebony Stewart also elaborates the hardships she’s had to endure, bad relationships and troubles growing up. In “Summer” she writes about puberty – ‘all mouth, breasts, and booty’ – being groped by boys and men. In “Domestic” she writes about the melancholy of her childhood, her mother and father. “Anxiously Avoidant” likewise alludes to her parents (‘It only took me being alive 15 years to / outlive their marriage.’). “Juicy” is a celebration of her aunties and grandmother. Her mother is also the subject of “How I Came,” and it’s also full of instructions (‘You must find your voice in the back of your mother’s throat…Get used to the sound of the world falling apart in your mother’s tears.’)
WASH is full of folksy wisdom and the Black patois with which she delivers her message is infectious and compelling.
Jan 30 2025
London Grip Poetry Review – Ebony Stewart
Poetry review – WASH: Charles Rammelkamp relishes Ebony Stewart’s lively and down-to-earth take on life
‘I saw this meme that said female dragonflies will fake their own death to avoid mating with an unwanted male.’ So begins Ebony Stewart’s poem, “Dragonflies”. Many of the poems in WASH address this issue of coping with relationships and self-image. Indeed, the very first poem in this impassioned series of poems, “Hello,” sets the tone: ‘Hello, emotional labor.’
In her bio note at the end of the collection, we learn that Stewart, a performance artist and former sexual health educator, uses her platform ‘to uplift, educate, and ignite meaningful change in the world.’
Stewart’s voice often takes the tone of advice given by somebody who has been around the block a few times. The title poem, for instance, which pays homage to Jamaica Kincaid’s 1978 piece, “Girl,” is pure instruction. ‘Wash your clothes on Sundays,’ it begins and later goes on:
Watch how you play with boys. Boys become men, men know how to make you dirty, make you less than. Don’t play those games.The poem, “A Human Being Lives Here,” is instructions to a niece, though the lessons are universal. It starts, ‘When my niece asks me how to be a womxn, I…’ She goes on for two pages with heartfelt wisdom:
Be a womxn. Something of a warrior, something of an orator, operator, with the biggest appetite, letting you eat first. Crotch mouth, crow toes, eagle wings. Can’t sleep ’cause the brain don’t do nothing but think.By the end, Stewart has enjoined her niece to be strong, assertive, self-confident, taking zero shit from ‘men in suits or hoodies eager and inviting / discomfort,’ deceitful creatures who bang on your door, ‘haunting your panties—they won’t even remember your name.’
When they come, tell them they won’t find no dimes, no cages, no keys, but queens and sharks and bullets. A human being lives here that be womxn and nothing else. You tell them your auntie taught you everything you know.Many of the poems use this strategy of encouraging, demanding, imploring and beseeching the reader to positive, self-preserving action. “Number One Fan” gives advice to someone contemplating getting back together with an abusive boyfriend (‘Hey, gurl, there’s no need to be gentle once broken is done.’); “Apologies, Regretted Memories, Admitted Mistakes, & Other Ways to Take Ownership,” employs erasure to make its point ; and in “Note to Self,” as its title suggests, the advice is applied to herself
Sprinkle courage. Pour confidence. Mix here you go, be brave. Now believe it. Go the distance. Move from hoping to making it happen.“Womxn God” and “Dark Star” are other good examples of the same approach.
Some of Stewart’s more coy poems cleverly use metaphor to make the same point. “Shopping While Hungry” begins ‘Be honest’ and then uses a sort of shopping list to underscore the message.
Flour Gotta protect myself I’m a womxn that come with a whole lotta flavor You tasty girl Damn girl, you delicious You got all kinda seasoning Put yo whole foot and the kitchen sink in Taste so good make me wanna SOP YOU UP WIT BISCUIT“Labyrinth: A maze difficult to solve” employs unique typographical strategies to make its point about the challenges of life that a woman faces and her own strength in overcoming them, Stewart an example for others. Some verses are printed upside down, others skewed on the page. ‘I get / shxt / done through abandonment, misunderstandings, and / disappointment and never have I ever given up.’
She can also be hilariously sassy. The poem, “Single,” begins:
I’m so single I look on my calendar for dates I’m so single If it’s a trip for two, I gotta go twiceEbony Stewart writes in the tradition of strong Black women. Her poems are full of allusions to writers like Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange (“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf”), and Bell Hooks. Indeed, the epigraph to the collection is from Hooks: “for the womxn who will not be loved.”
Stewart celebrates gay love and bi love as well, in poems like “Have a Ball” and “Twitter Girl W/ Fingers” and “Blue”:
I’m sorry I keep spinning the bottle and kissing you in the closet. I’m sorry I keep making what we have seem like I chose a date rather than the truth. I’m sorry I can only hold you back when no one’s looking. I’m sorry I am not brave enough to love another woman out loud in the way that I love you.Ebony Stewart also elaborates the hardships she’s had to endure, bad relationships and troubles growing up. In “Summer” she writes about puberty – ‘all mouth, breasts, and booty’ – being groped by boys and men. In “Domestic” she writes about the melancholy of her childhood, her mother and father. “Anxiously Avoidant” likewise alludes to her parents (‘It only took me being alive 15 years to / outlive their marriage.’). “Juicy” is a celebration of her aunties and grandmother. Her mother is also the subject of “How I Came,” and it’s also full of instructions (‘You must find your voice in the back of your mother’s throat…Get used to the sound of the world falling apart in your mother’s tears.’)
WASH is full of folksy wisdom and the Black patois with which she delivers her message is infectious and compelling.