Catherine Gigante-Brown Poem to My Younger Self Dear Cat, You couldn’t possibly imagine how it would turn out. Sometimes you wished you would die from the pain of not belonging, of not being like anyone else. But this uniqueness, this difference, became your strength, your sword. You couldn’t possibly know that you would find love— several times— but one that really mattered. Hang in there; it’s all worth it. You’ll see. I promise. You couldn’t possibly imagine how hard it would be sometimes but also that it would be equally as wonderful. You are so incredibly powerful. There is…
Author: Mom Egg Review
H.E. Fisher When My Child Tells Me He is Her I give her the dress that no longer fits, take the waist in like breath— a fabric my hands wove, dye blue and pink baby blankets the colors of mars clay, moon rock, moss. Welcome her to her universe of being, shake day awake, rise and shine the silver off the cusp. An older mother grows too, sees the child for who she is, loves her, loves the love she gave her self. She made new weather. It was always her birth. Wish in an Empty…
Shalewa Mackall Deeply Resourced My great-grandmother hugged herself and rocked by the door whenever I headed out. How many years did the sound of her muttering wash over before I heard softly: cuídate, cuídate bien mija”? she who wore the boast and truth of her names: Mama, Ma Maceda, Maximina Mena—the last of these means: the Greatest Woman of Ore or Mineral— was never an easy woman, only thing she held tighter than a grudge was her legacy: Original Seeker, Dancing Dream, Precious Gift, an Honorable Man to Die For. Our names in translation are praise songs. She taught…
Lynne McEniry Covid dreaming I thought I was done being pregnant kids in their 30s no period for the past two years but these Covid dreams are so real they repeat themselves so real that my uterus is still contracting come daylight still trying to forget that in this dream nature chose to end it early and why I don’t even know and how I got dream pregnant in the first place I can’t quite recall in the dream pain I’m thinking how it’s supposed to be that once the babies are delivered bodies eventually forget the pain and…
Theta Pavis The Shell and The Bone Waiting for the x-ray I lay still on the table. My little body patient and wondering what the doctor will see when she looks at my bones, stolen too early of their calcium like my mother was taken too early from me. It makes you weak. At night I walk through the steamy summer streets encouraging my skeleton to do its job. I stay flat on my back and it’s easy to just close my eyes. Think about the kale and sardines I have at home to build bone and the fact…
Martina Green McGowan Crafting Beyond the Half-Century Mark Time and Age Time and age come with a certain sense of freedom. Freedom of thought, more risk-taking, a different perspective gained from a long view of life, its attendant difficulties, and blessings. They grant most of us with a new level of grace, mercy, and forgiveness for ourselves and for others. There is a sense of urgency to getting our work done. But this is a far cry from the panic sensation we may have felt in our youth. Arriving Late We sometimes become overwhelmed or even despondent that…
Cheryl J. Fish I Never Had A Daughter I never had a daughter who play-acted feelings she could not articulate, a busted doll in hand. Who wrote poems and scored goals. Who asked, “mother, who was your first love? Who was your third?” I never had a daughter who flipped tangled hair outside texting among six friends Spooning ice cream into their firm, fool mouths. One friend spoke too frankly so my girl cried. Then she blindsided My every try every tale of recounting mother’s old ordeals. I never had a daughter of charm or dismay. Rebellious …
Kathy Engel For that hour it’s the icefloes I can’t stop thinking about, cascade of endless blue, lonely cold & faces of grieving mothers I’ll always see, year after year, country after country – tonight I pray especially for India, Gaza, Colombia & here & here & yet to name may be to exclude – the list doesn’t end always fragmented like memory, broken shell & we are more than the names of places, more than lists – the ache of separation knows no border or time zone; Vandana’s seeds promise for every loss a planting – today, against…
Annis Cassells Two Daughters, Twice Blessed for Amina and Asila When your daughter reads your poem aloud on New Year’s Day And it’s the first time you’ve heard it read by someone else A tenderness blooms, expands throughout your chest Like the first time her gaze held yours and she said “Mama” When your daughter generously offers her Reiki Bliss Blast Radiates love to friends and strangers, to the world at large Hands around the globe raise, wave, request her blessing Again, you recognize how beloved, how trusted, she is When your daughter is one whom others seek for…
Golda Solomon golda’s sestina ( after Enid Dames’ Lilith’s Sestina) –2021 Wrong and right for me grey through memory. The men I knew as a baby, Jerome I called Romeo. Myself nine years younger than Stanley my brother. There’s power In being a Jewish son, an older big brother. He stands right behind my carriage. Wasn’t his job to protect me from danger That photo has me sitting puppy dog eager in a freshly pressed white dress, my head tilted. I want to kiss him, press my baby hand into his, count the little piggies. Men, even a ten…