About “Maiden Mother Crone”
This poetry collection is available from Sea Crow Press now. It includes work from 50 poets, and is technically the third volume in Madeleine F White’s Crossing Places series. The book is divided into three parts, each speaking to the archetypal patterns of “Maiden,” “Mother,” and “Crone.” Of the book, Sea Crow says “these poems reflect on love and loss, motherhood and daughterhood, aging and renewal, courage and hope. Together, they weave a rich tapestry of voices that honor both our individuality and our shared humanity.”
I’ve enjoyed dipping into the work and reading one poem at a time, really sitting with the emotions and images they each evoke.
About “Rilke’s Interrupted Supper”
In the “Mother” section, I have a poem included called “Rilke’s Interrupted Supper.” Though technically, I’m more in my “Crone” era, I did write this in 2019, when I was still deep in the act of Mothering on a number of levels.
The poem was actually from our Personal Myth class in grad school with Dennis Patrick Slattery. He had us read Rilke’s poem “Sometimes a man stands up during supper” and respond to it. We were intended to explore our church to the east… but that’s not how I responded. I responded with frustration about the difference between a “man” wandering off to his church in the east, versus the “woman” who he presumably left behind with the children mentioned in the poem.
For me, it’s about gender roles and expectations, as well as carving out the time to pursue these things amidst the work of motherhood.
I’ve been writing poetry since I was twelve. This is only the second poem I’ve had officially published, so it’s also really special to me for that reason. I’m happy to honor my poetry in this way.