Mothering: in poetry and posts
It’s Mother’s Day here in the UK.
And I thought I’d presumptuously pop up in your inbox for the second time this weekend with a bonus mini post to share a few mother-relevant culture treats.
Firstly, as many of you have subscribed more recently, you may not have read the Mothering Sunday newsletter I shared in 2023. Enjoy!
Mothering Sunday: shifting portrayals of motherhood
I first read Graham Swift’s Mothering Sunday years ago, the selection of a member of my book group. It caused much excitement in the village pub as we all sat around with our copies, Modigliani’s bold and beautiful ‘Reclining Nude’ relaxed and unapologetic on the cover. “What kind of book group
Here’s an excellent triumvirate of poems representing various points on the spectrum of motherhood—written by three of my favourites.
The Republic of Motherhood by Liz Berry
The Raincoat by Ada Limón
When the doctor suggested surgery
and a brace for all my youngest years,
my parents scrambled to take me
to massage therapy, deep tissue work,
osteopathy, and soon my crooked spine
unspooled a bit, I could breathe again,
and move more in a body unclouded
by pain. My mom would tell me to sing
songs to her the whole forty-five minute
drive to Middle Two Rock Road and forty-
five minutes back from physical therapy.
She’d say, even my voice sounded unfettered
by my spine afterward. So I sang and sang,
because I thought she liked it. I never
asked her what she gave up to drive me,
or how her day was before this chore. Today,
at her age, I was driving myself home from yet
another spine appointment, singing along
to some maudlin but solid song on the radio,
and I saw a mom take her raincoat off
and give it to her young daughter when
a storm took over the afternoon. My god,
I thought, my whole life I’ve been under her
raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel
that I never got wet.
Thanks to a recommendation years ago by Substack’s favourite bookseller
, I’m a huge fan of Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast. I remember listening to the Ada Limón episode on the top deck of a fogged-up bus heading into York—diving deep into this poem is a real treat.Mother, Any Distance by Simon Armitage
And finally, here are three fascinating Substack newsletters exploring different aspects of motherhood colliding with creativity.
: (I love this story):
And
:
If you’re celebrating today I hope you feel loved and take a beat to recognise the value of all that you do.
If it’s a hard one for you today, I hope you are being kind to yourself and take a beat to recognise the value of all that you do.
Thanks, as ever, for reading and I promise to leave you in peace until Friday.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter you can support my writing in a number of ways—like, comment, share, consider upgrading your subscription or ‘buy me a coffee’. Thank you!
loved the raincoat and the Mary and Luke story (the internet is fabulous but also dangerous, for adoptions where the mother and child don't get on and can end up feeling bereaved again) and Pandora Sykes provoked lots of thoughts in me which are still bubbling away.
Thank you so much for sharing my work, Claire 💕 narratives on mothering and being mothered are a theme I return to again and again in my writing. I also appreciate your mention of people who find today hard; as someone who is a mother, but also lost a mother, it's important to remember that celebratory days such as these can be a complicated affair for people in a myriad of ways x