This Mother's Day, use poetry to thank the mothers in your family for the wealth of wisdom, support, and love they give each day. Pull up a chair, write a note, and read some poetry for Mother's Day!
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For many of us, moms offer never-ending encouragement from the first steps through teenage struggles and into the ups and downs of adulthood. They are there to help you learn to write and to help you cook a turkey on your own for the first time.
Of course, for others, Mother's Day brings up bittersweet memories: tension, absence, loss.
Whether you have a mother in your family or not, the poetry listed below is for you.
Read it however you want: laughing or crying, remembering the past or hopeful for the future. Take a deep breath and relax into the words.
Also, if you do have mothers in your family, take some time this next week to do something special for them. Write them a letter, send a poem that means a lot to you, cook a meal, draw a picture, or set aside time for another celebration just for her.
Now let's dig into some poetry.
Poems about Mothers
Learning to cook from your mom. Listening to her singing. Being taken care of when you're sick. You'll find all these and other memories as poets reflect on their mothers in these poems from the 1800s to the present.
- “Mothers,” by Nikki Giovanni: “the last time i was home…”
- “lessons” by Jacqueline Woodson: “My mother says…”
- “Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome” by Christina Rossetti: “Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome…”
- “I Ask My Mother to Sing” by Li-Young Lee: “She begins, and my grandmother joins her.”
- “The Sick Child” by Robert Louis Stevenson: “O Mother, lay your hand on my brow!”
- “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes: “Well son, I’ll tell you…”
Poetry Books for and about Mothers
From funny to powerful to heartbreaking, these poetry books will take you through a wealth of experiences between mothers and their children. Get ready to laugh, cry, and enjoy these stories and poems together.
Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers by Pat Mora (bilingual English and Spanish)
Llama Llama Home with Mama by Anna Dewdney
Poems in the Attic by Nikki Grimes
Motherhood: Poems About Mothers edited by Carmela Ciuraru
Mother Poems by Hope Anita Smith (a story in poems about a girl coping with losing her mother)
Borrowed Names: Poems About Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters by Jeannine Atkins
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Gray