I read so many wonderful poems when I went looking (in my collection of poems and poetry books and on online in journals), and am sorry I cannot share them all. Here are a few of the ones I truly adore, with links, so you can also check them out. (Others will end up in my blog in the future.)
Fiction involving mothers? Oh, yeah--I've got that, too.
Short Stories
Everyday Use by Alice Walker (short story)
Betty by Margaret Atwood (short story)
Novels
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Mother's Recompense by Edith Wharton
The Good House by Tananarive Due
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
The Good Mother by Sue Miller
Things We Left Unsaid by Zoya Pirzad
I am reining it in (or trying to--this section started with just 3 books, but I had to add 2 more)! Here are just five of the nonfiction books about mothers that I recommend:
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory
Searching for Mercy Street by Linda Gray Sexton
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
Okay, okay, that's enough! Here's your prompt:
After reading today's blog poem and Wednesday's blog poem and all of the literature listed above (KIDDING about that third step!), write a piece (poem, story, essay, etc.) about being a mother, not being a mother, having a mother, being pregnant, giving birth, being born, having a miscarriage, having an abortion, losing a mother, the language of motherhood, how motherhood is presented in a capitalist society, famous mothers in popular culture, a portrait of your mother before she was a mother, an ekphrastic piece based on a Mary Cassatt painting, the history of Mother's Day, issues affecting mothers with special needs, etc.
If you would like to challenge yourself a bit more, use these words/do these things in your piece:
use the words murky, soundproof, hairy, force, migrate, add, doorknob, fire, splendid
mention someone being 15 years of age
refer to a trip
describe shoes
Have fun! Happy Mother's Day!
