As our family gathers for a post-
Christmas reunion, I find some of the joyous chaos captured in a Rita Dove poem.
Tag Archives: Family
The Chaotic Joys of a Family Reunion
Lit Steels Spines in Face of Pressure
One answer to how Austen’s Fanny Price resists the unrelenting family pressure to marry Crawford: she has read Richardson’s “Clarissa.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Clarissa, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Marriage, Samuel Richardson Comments closed
Remembering a Father’s Tenderness
In this poem about his father, Li-Young Lee remembers a tender moment that has led to his own tenderness as an adult.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Gift", Father's Day, fathers and sons, Li-Young Lee, love Comments closed
Titanic Struggles, on the Court & at Home
This moving David Rivard poem shows how a moment in basketball can symbolically capture a contentious father-son relationship.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Fall River", Basketball, Bill Russell, David Rivard, fathers and son, NBA, Sports, Wilt Chamberlain Comments closed
I Carry You in Me Like an Embryo
Marge Piercy’s mother died during Hanukkah and the poet uses the season to reflect upon their contentious relationship.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "My Mother's Body", Hanukkah, Marge Piercy, Mothers and Daughters, Spirituality Comments closed
My Son Marries into Crusoe’s Island
Robinson Crusoe’s island may well be the home country of my new daughter-in-law.
Family Melodrama, Iranian Style
The Oscar-winning Iranian film “Separation” builds complication upon complication as families wrestle with difficult conditions.
The Black Honey of Summer
My son’s marriage proposal to his Trinidadian girlfriend has become bound up in my mind with a Mary Oliver poem about blackberries.
