Reflections on Motherhood
By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Poetry, chapbook
Published by The Compulsive Reader
ISBN 9781438263793
Illustrated with photos by May Lattanzio
Available at Amazon
Reviewed by Jennifer Poulter Just finished Maggie - utterly beautiful, painful - memorable
A book of finely cut gems to hold, admire, let their multi-facets flash their messages to mind, and the fine sharp edges of each plane hold the image indelibly.
The poets take us either side of motherhood and all the pain and joy held in between.
We visit, through Magdalena’s eyes, the arrival that makes a mother – the amazement, the awe, the juxtaposing of life’s simple statement ‘I am’ against the complexities of “The Genetic Code” that made the babe –
the organised complexity
of your extraordinary
beauty
couldn’t be simpler
as you reach a tentative
hand
towards the future
Then we are led by Carolyn, down the narrowing path to the final drawn out exit. The circle of life completes, the child is yet to know the mother, the mother has forgotten the child…
We all forget names, I say as numb
moves from hand to heart
because it is my name she has forgotten.
Gems sparkling here remind us of those seminal joys – the babe, the birth; other gems flash from the page and we recognise, whether we want to or no – the final pages turning to the close of one life’s book.
-----
The reviewer is Jennifer McRae/Poulter, j.poulter@uq.edu.au. Go to: http://www.uq.edu.au/~uqjpoult/ then hit 'proceed http://www.kbs.com.au/ Haiku,
J.R. McRae thumbnail moon print impressed on the flesh of a cool evening Humidity........ J.R.McRae Leaves tickle air Till its laughter Runs down their limbs
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
