Kristin Graziano’s “Contents Have Shifted” considers how best to respond to a parent’s dementia-inflected reality. “For years,” Graziano observes about her mother, “I felt compelled to refute her falsehoods. I felt that by correcting her, I could yank her back to The Truth, to the real world. When I did this, sharp words with resentful tones followed, leaving us both frustrated and silent.”
Read moreOn Work-Worn Hands and Gestures of Love, a short essay by poet and educator, Joan Baranow
A writer and poet honors the memory of her mother by finding the parallels between her own work and the story of another mother and daughter.
Read moreAfter Testimony, Tribute
A testimony and tribute to one writer’s mother who passed away from COVID-19.
Read moreCaregiving: When the Patient is Your Mother. A Reflection by poet Brian Ascalon Roley
A writer revisits his childhood memories and, in doing so, reflects on the evolving relationship between parent and child as both grow older.
Read morePoets on Poets: A Look Back and Forward by Ellen Goldsmith
A poet reflects on what companion poets and their poetry can offer us in the face of unexpected illness and loss.
Read moreWhat’s the Right Way to Die? And Where? A reflection by poet Kathryn Paul
Can we decide where we should die? A writer and former caregiver reflects on offering comfort during one’s final moments.
Read moreThe Wisdom of the Pomegranate: A Reflection on Poetry and Mothers by Sina Foroutanjazi
The void, the empty feeling of loss; this is perhaps what connects Ceren Ege’s Dictum Wisdom (Intima, Fall 2021) and Pomegranate Protocol (Intima, Fall 2021) above and beyond their chronological relationship.
Read moreSecrets We Keep: Gaining a Perspective on Love by Kim Drew Wright
“A Mother’s Life” is part of a linked short story collection I’m working on. The collection involves how we often lose our true selves but always come back to our essential essence in the end and how often we hide parts of ourselves from those people closest to us.
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