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How i Gave Birth to My Mother

with Poetry, Pictures, Mementos, and Art

Can words, pictures, art, and mementos enliven memories?

Join Susan Blauner as she steps back in time to rekindle and deepen memories of her mother, Inez, who died at fifty-five, when Blauner was fourteen. 

Blauner is writing How I Gave Birth to My Mother to better understand the influence of parental love and parental loss. Through narrative memoir, ekphrastic poetry, and clear, accessible instruction, Blauner

supports readers as they expand and deepen the lived experience of a loved one.

To facilitate memory retrieval for readers, Blauner presents 20 creative activities related to writing, pictures, art, and mementos.

For further understanding, Blauner includes  a resource directory of books, online options, and professional organizations. 

Ekphrastic poetry uses paintings, photos, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and other artforms for inspiration. Here, Blauner turns to pictures, with and without her mother.

MeMomAmusementPark.jpg

Fair Winds

The sole turning

point of your compass

brought red skies to mourning.

I watched my birth vessel drift

to sea a broken eye swirling in

uncharted waters, no wave to

stop her ultimate crossing.

Fair winds, mom,

fair winds.

MyTwoTrees.jpg

Double You

Little girl in vee of trees,

white pants way too long,

sees through you—arrow-wise,

while light casts crown

to form a double you.

 

Did someone put her up to it, 

or did she seize the opportunity 

for still life, pushing trees apart 

with strong hands like her mother's?

 

Life was so much simpler 

at the start of double you.

Copyright © 2022 Susan Blauner. All rights reserved.

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