(For Yo mamma)
by: Kendall Merriam

Women love to shop
for clothing, jewelry
It enhances their lives.
They have seen so many colors
that it weakens men’s minds.
Who can only distinguish
the rough stones of Sikkim
and not the subtle tones
of a white tiger.
It is both harmless and happy.
For the little shops
of the bazaar
to get some modicum
of any family’s income
on beauty both visual and scented.
Men, I am afraid,
like to waste trillions
on war
and confining religion;
Leaving scraps of carpet
which women
take as well as they can
to beautify their houses
or fingers and
swanlike necks.
But men are anxious
with anger and war.
Cannot stop and admire
The beauty of the women
of Earth,
only outdone by birds…
a nickname
any woman can take with joy!

At Yo Mamma’s Shop in Belfast, Maine, March 29, 2008;
While listening to women exclaim.

We welcome you to Yo Mamma's Home, our store! We are pleased and excited to find ourselves owning a store. We didn't arrive at this point in a planned or business-like way.

In 2001 We, Sandhya and Mallery, found ourselves without work and in great need. We won't bore you with the gorey details. Having been friends and neighbors for many years, we sat down one day and put our heads together to find a solution to this dilemma.

Sandhya and Mallery

Sandhya said, "O.K., What do we know how to do?" We then listed all the things we could do; cooking, cleaning, gardening, sewing, painting, papering, splitting wood, driving, mowing, sorting, organizing, caring for children etc. We quite impressed ourselves when we read our own list.

Mallery had had various semi corporate jobs over the past few years, and in those had spent hours dreaming of a business that she would create called yo mamma. What the nuts and bolts of the business were to be, remained a bit fuzzy, but still...a great name. So looking at the list of what we had to offer, we decided a service business that helped people get stuff done, was the way to go and we would call it,'Yo Mamma, Inc.'