Poems Curated by J.P. Howard

We are women writers, many of us are members of Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon(WWBPS) or long-time supporters of the Salon. We are diverse and multi-generational; many of us are women of color and a number of us are LGBTQ writers. We are community. Writing is a bond we share, sometimes the act of writing our truths saves our lives. We are all daughters, many of us are mothers, some of us are nurturers and our stories are sometimes complicated, often painful, but always necessary.

SAY/MIRROR, my debut collection of poetry, published earlier this year by The Operating System is a combination of poetry, memoir and photography. Much of the manuscript was influenced by my sometimes complicated relationship with my own mother, a once-famous runway model. The idea of writing about mothers/daughters/nurturing and how these relationships can “change” us as women has been on my mind a lot lately. With that in mind, I asked contributors to this column to use the Mom Egg Review’s theme of “change” either as it relates to being a mother and/or nurturer in some form or for poets to use this opportunity to explore change(s) in their relationship with their own mothers, including changes that may have affected those poets whose mothers are no longer with them. I asked these skilled writers to be as honest as possible in their submissions, exploring both the complications and joys that come with the territory. I’m delighted to share their powerful words with you. – J.P. Howard