The MotherVerse Blog: mothering out loud

As I crawled under a stack of covers last night (it’s cold here!), I opened James Hackett’s Haiku Poetry (1968, Japan Publications), to read some beautiful words before sleeping. At the back of the book, he lists twenty suggestions for writing haiku in English. Apparently, these are famous but they were new to me. Since […]

Carol Smallwood, Aurorean Editor, author and previous MotherVerse writer is seeking submissions for three upcoming books. Women in Poetry, Milestones for American Women: Our Defining Passages and Women Writing on Family.
To read the full submissions call please visit the following address and scroll down to the bottom of the page. http://www.encirclepub.com/poetry/aurorean/announcements.
Deadlines are fast […]

Your wavy hair glistens
Your dark eyes glow
They tell me you are broken.
When you are happy and smiling
Your dimples deepen and
The corners of your eyes turn up.
They tell me you are slow.
When you are laughing
Your whole body joins in
and your giggles overcome you.
They tell me you are delayed.
When I look into your deep, brown eyes
I meet […]

Santosha-
by Lilian Sarlos
God peeks out our cat’s eyes at me
Winks as I wander off key
Glares and swishes her tail
if I lose my patience
As if to say
Is that how you want to use that passion
Stalks off to find the one ray of sun
Golden velvet ears of loving hounds
Always in our hands
The big boned full throated children
Voice […]

I was browsing through some MotherVerse issues and found Linda Ann Strang’s poem, The Man Who Married Cumulonimbus, from Issue 6.  I then found another of her poems in Literary Mama, The Grandmother at the Ends of the Earth.
Such language! I am in awe.
There is so much poetry today that is just words to me; […]

Spooky Zoo Sunday at the Roger Williams Park Zoo
 
Snow White’s crying in front of two
zebras who stand sleek as not caring
Mr. Incredible’s buff as a plush bulldog
Superman’s three feet tall
GI Joe stands in fatigues soft enough
to sleep in, watches the pumpkin being carved
Witches are handing out yo-yos
The place is crazy with princesses
their cotton candy gowns, […]

       She asks me to tell you she’s wonderful. This seventeen year old was my grief baby, born just a year after her newborn brother died. What are the metaphysics of two souls coming together as mother and daughter? What kind of bravery steered her to my terrified womb, my bleeding arms? I’ve always perceived […]

Had some trouble writing this week; an injured back among other things. Then felt horribly unable to write straight. Journal poem follows.
 
Writers block, if I could stack one into several and even
          unpainted they would tower
Chain sawed my back, sore pile we stacked
          into shape of me, left on the couch
Uncleaned the house, progress of […]

Remember that post where I ranted and raved about the ‘experts’ and other people’s well-meaning advice? The one that was inspired by a fabulous book I was reviewing?

Well, there it is. I was so excited to review this book! It seemed at every turn, there was something that made me scream out: YES!…. Finally!…. Other […]

I GIVE YOU BIRTH
                                                                                                           
I give you birth under fat black sky    
            heavily salted
 
I give you birth in palm of all mothers    
            seat of explosion    
            peppercorn crunched in the mouth
 
I give you birth before the sun’s heat has gathered
             before the slant rays can dry her grasses
 
I give you birth beneath thin canopy of branches   
            rocky […]