As Calvin Forbes said, when faced with two challenging decisions, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Using exquisite pacing, humor, and sophisticated word choices, Calvin Forbes describes how a memory cannot be recovered, no matter how much you dwell on it. The story behind “Momma Said” teaches us that you can't have it all, no matter how hard you try. Calvin Forbes uses rhythm in the sense that rhythm brings poetry to life. Most poets use rhyme to give the poem a sense of organization and to make it easier to memorize. Calvin Forbes doesn't use rhyme in “Momma Said,” instead he uses shorter lines that all connect to each other, giving it the same fluid feel that rhythm would, just in a different arrangement. Rhythm helps move the poem forward and keep the reader alert, which is exactly what Forbes is doing. Most poets use rhythm by rhyming lines one after the other; which gives the poem a subtle feel, causing the reader to remain intrigued. Lines 13 and 14 state, “Like a dream that makes you want to go back to sleep.” who uses imagery to help you imagine aShe was the one who told Calvin Forbes, the saying, “You can't have your cake and eat it too.” He was simply teaching his son a lesson, or maybe he was scolding him, using it as a life lesson. In any case, she was the inspiration for the poem. I have not been able to locate online why the poem was initially written, however, I can only assume that he remembers a time when his mother was right and wishes he had listened to her. Maybe now he's older, wiser and faced with a decision where he wants two things equally and has to make a decision. He may remember the advice his mother once gave him, wishing he had listened to it only then, because it is helpful