Mothers And Daughters

A Poetry Celebration

  • Chapter 1   - Pregnancy
  • Chapter 2   - Birth
  • Chapter 3   - Babyhood
  • Chapter 4   - Toddlerhood
  • Chapter 5   - Childhood
  • Chapter 6   - Adolescence
  • Chapter 7   - Leaving Home
  • Chapter 8   - Adulthood
  • Chapter 9   - Grandmotherhood
  • Chapter 10 - Later Years
  • Chapter 11 - Illness
  • Chapter 12 - Partings
  • Chapter 13 - Reflections
  • Chapter 14 - Inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DANCING PARTNERS

I dance in a cumbersome,
out-sized waltz of new life
in love with my body
as it blooms and hovers
over the tiny being
cradled near my heart
as if already on my lap.
I savor outlandish cravings,
rehearsals for a lifetime of yearnings
on behalf of this becoming-daughter.
Naked in morning sunlight,
I anoint my roundness with oil,
lullabying its nestling, who, in
matching conception and gestation
is growing a new me: her mother.

Margaret Anne Huffman

 

BOND

I am enchanted by this blessed mystery--
why you, of all possible infants,
and I, of all possible mothers,
meet here and now to stare with wonder
deeply into one another's eyes.

Maureen Tolman Flannery

  

GROWING DAUGHTER

Oh, how I grip
   the back of the sofa
As I watch you bob
   and weave
   and eventually tumble
Cautious first steps
   must be your own
The hardest part
   of that lesson
   is mine alone

Mary Maude Daniels

   

GIFTS

Of all the small things we are given to love --
new grass, acorns, the mystery of seeds,
February's warm breath, raspberries, lilacs in the spring --
I love you most of all
because you have given them back to me.
A keen eye for the moon,
gentle fingers tracing a sidewalk’s crack,
the lacy web of a fly's wing.
You have taught me to taste the world again,
swallow dry snow,
smell the surprise of the January sun.
You, my small scientist of beauty,
recover the wonder of life
in your open, astonished hands.

Sheila O' Connor

   

MY MOTHER IS THE BEST

My mother's hands are soft
as a cat's fur.
When I hug my mother
she feels like a bird's feathers.
Her kisses and hugs are so big.
They are as big as elephants.
Best of all I love her.

Jennifer Shunfenthal, Age 7

    

INITIATION

Last night, dear daughter,
You cried your first grown-up tears.
Tears that sprang from a broken heart,
You said you could tell the moment it cracked.
These tears weren&'t
Begot by frustration,
Or anger,
Or lack of sleep.
They were tears of initiation.
Tears that told you
The world can be a cruel place,
Life isn't always fair,
and that the cost for living is suffering alone.

Last night, dear daughter,
You cried your first grown-up tears.
And, in the darkness,
If you had listened,
You would have heard
The echo of my heart cracking, too.

Joan Shea O'Neal

     

NEW LIFE

My daughter's belly
moves beneath my hand
The child within her stirring
stirs in me a rush of awe
of mystery
so strong
so primal in its source
I touch infinity

Maude Meehan

      

ROOM FULL OF MEMORIES

I walk into your vacant room.
A slight fragrance of you remains
haunting the air like an icon
on the pages of my memories.
All your personal possessions are gone,
here where I watched you bloom.
Leafing through chapters, my heart sighs.
What good times we shared along with bad.
I see you there, a charming baby,
then as the pages turn quickly
you're a high school beauty having fun.
I can't stop the tears flowing from my eyes.

Joy and pain stored as souvenirs,
guilt and pleasure mixed together.
If I could only change the print
I'd erase our foolish mistakes.
I lay aside the memory book.
Life consists of laughter and tears.

Parenting has come to an end
and how I lament its passing.
I shall miss sitting on your bed
talking with you in the evening,
rubbing your back and stroking your head--
but you are leaving as my friend.

Judy Barnes

      

A MOTHER'S DAY GRACE

It's an impossible job
No one can ever do it perfectly
Be willing to accept that there is no success or failure here
Let us give up the burden of unreal expectations
Let us cherish what is and nourish each other’s dreams
Let us remember the best and forgive the rest
Allow all the love that may have
slipped into tight places free now
to illuminate the harmony
that always existed
at the very center
of our hearts

Arlene Gay Levine

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REVIEW: A touching, tender compendium of fresh voices on the relationship that so often makes us feel speechless with awe, rage, and love. A lovely gift for mothers, daughters and grandmothers and especially those who are all three!
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Author of Getting Over Getting Older and founder of Ms. magazine

 

REVIEW: By gathering contributions from seven-year-olds as well as grandmas, lay poets as well as professionals, Cotner has achieved something that has eluded many others: bringing the world of poetry to the average reader.
Michael Vaughn
The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA

 

REVIEW: . . . in Mothers and Daughters, I found grit, realism and genuine emotion. I found fine writing. I found challenging ideas. There are some tear-jerkers here, but Cotner maintains a good balance and keeps things from turning into a pity party . . . It was a great idea to include the work of young girls--their voices add an important dimension to the book as a whole.
Barbara Lloyd McMichael
“The Bookmonger” column
The Olympian, Olympia, WA and The Sun, Bremerton, WA

 

REVIEW: The poets represented within this compilation relate to the readers like close friends, as they reflect on their most intimate thoughts and feelings. Many of them are award-winning poets, but the collection also includes some lesser-known writers with amazing insight and poignancy. This anthology describes all the wondrous life-changing experiences in a woman’s life . . . June Cotner’s poetry selections, all beautifully crafted and accessible, alternate between conjuring up emotions of joy and elation to times of sadness and tears to virtual laugh-out-loud honesty and wit. From this reflective collection, readers will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the unique bond women share -- a special keepsake meant to be revisited and shared time after time.
StorkNet, www.storknet.com

REVIEW: It's difficult to believe, but June Cotner has done it again--produced yet another successful and beautiful collection . . . Mothers and Daughters is sure to be a best seller for Mother's Day, baby showers, adoptions, etc. With Cotner's sure and gentle hand, each poem included here is perfect for the theme . . . All readers and fans of Cotner's will be eager to add Mothers and Daughters to their gift list.
Linda Hutton
Hutton Book-Review Services

 

REVIEW: . . . Expect to be transported through a kaleidoscope of moods, feelings and memories. Your mother, your daughter, your experiences as a daughter and as a mother--all will accompany you on this poignantly presented journey to the soul of womanhood. June Cotner has created an absolutely lovely book for women--sweet without being overly sentimental.
Deborah Ham on Amazon.com

 

REVIEW: . . . June Cotner gives her readers a heart-opening look into our first and probably most defining relationship. Mothers, daughters, grandparents (and sons and husbands who want to gain an intimate understanding of the women in their lives) will be enlightened and entertained by this thoughtful, generous collection . . . Reading these poems is a gift to oneself; the treasure of insights so artfully crafted into literature links us with the humanity of others while it illuminates our own experiences in revealing ways. By all means buy this book for your mother, daughter, or maybe, most importantly, yourself.
Arlene Gay Levine on Amazon.com

 

REVIEW: Mothers and Daughters reveals the whole breadth and depth of the mother-daughter bond as only poetry can. From pregnancy to toddlerhood, adolescence to leaving home, grandmotherhood and beyond, and every passage in between, this collection captures the voices of mothers and daughters as they write about the most moving moments in their times together.
The Archdiocesan newspaper, Iowa

 

REVIEW: Mothers come in all shapes, sizes, colors and dispositions--yet they all have one central need that they seem to inherit from their own mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers back to Eve. They are born to mother . . . June Cotner created a book of poems to reflect how mothers and daughters pass on this incredible legacy . . .
Bill Duncan
Capital Press, Douglas County, OR

 

REVIEW: The bond between mothers and daughters flows from generation to generation like liquid silk, as strong as steel yet delicate as a spider's web. Perhaps only a poet can do it justice . . . Mothers and Daughters was compiled by June Cotner, who arranged more than 100 poems from women around the country into life's various stages . . .
Joanna Poncavage
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA

 

REVIEW: . . . a collection of extraordinary poetry that celebrates the experience of being a mother and daughter during every phase of life . . .
Kenwood Press, Oakmont, CA

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