There is no poem or other weaving that can capture what motherhood has done for me. I think I will be able to write about it until the end, and if I do, I will only maybe relay a scraping of that incredible iceberg.
My new Mary poems are really poems about motherhood--and I can literally feel in my body, as any mother probably can--the incredible size of the reservoir I have to draw from for this subject. It feels like infinity. Some mothers scrapbook from this deep well. Others stay up all night doing soccer game preparations, and others do it with the art of food and joy. Creation is creation is creation.
My mothers that I remember, my grandmothers, great grandmothers, my natural mother, my poetry mothers, and then my own role as a mother all roll into my consciousness to awaken the realization in me that the cells that make me me are a part of a great privilege, the privilege of witnessing creation and nourishment.
Robert Indiana is the artist who you might know for his famous work with LOVE and other four letter words. His exhibit, which is on at the McNay right now here in San Antonio, is incredible--and we have the privilege of checking it out for a few more days.
For Mother's Day, I am doing a joint performance with other poets at the McNay, and this performance is inspired by the work of Robert Indiana. Here is a short description of it.
2-3 PM, Sunday, May 11th, at the McNay.
Hope you can come out!
"In blending image and text, Robert Indiana often quoted American writers Hart Crane, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and William Carlos Williams. Explore the crossover between painting and poetry with a poetry reading celebrating Indiana, American literature, and mothers. A collaboration with Gemini Ink, readers include Jim La Villa-Havelin, Bill Lewis, Natalia Trevino, and Laura Van Prooyen, with introductions by Sheila Black. A light reception with take-home flowers for mothers follows."
Take home flowers, modern art, a wide range of poems--it will be a meditation and celebration of Indiana's work, his inspirations, and even a little bit about a great love of his life--his most influential mother.
Blessings and Happy Mother's Day!
