The Peale's Storyteller-in-Residence, Mama Linda Goss, shares stories, poetry, songs, and insights about everything from Earth Day to the untimely death of George Floyd to talking to youth about race and racism.
Mama Linda Goss is the Peale's storyteller-in-residence, as well as a performer in the African diasporic oral tradition. She is a co-founder of the National Association of Black Storytellers, which works to preserve folk traditions. Every month, she shares a poem with the Peale, as part of her collection of stories, "Mama Linda's Chapbook."
Mama Linda Goss (00:01): (singing) Well, oh well, well. Well, oh well, well. My bells are ringing. My soul is singing. I'm the praise singer. I'm a bell-ringer. The truth well up, the storyteller.
Mama Linda Goss (00:35): Awake o spring. Awake in my heart. Winter, you were a loyal companion. However, child, it is time for us to part. Eagerly I await to hear robin's first song and to see young daffodils merrily sing along. Eagerly I await to smell lush cherry blossoms as they breeze across my face. Eagerly I await to walk through Firefly Meadow, my enduring hope place. I don't care if the groundhog saw his shadow, I'm ready to romp and roam through the willows, through sunflower meadow.
Asset ID: 2021.02.07.a
Poem Copyright © 2020 by Linda Goss
Find a complete transcript on the Peale's website.
