In this Book

  • I Wore this Dress Today For You, Mom
  • Book
  • Kim Dower, Former City Poet Laureate of West Hollywood, has published four highly acclaimed collections of poetry, including the Gold Ippy Award winning collection Sunbathing on Tyrone Power’s Grave. She has been nominated for four Pushcarts, is widely anthologized, and teaches writing workshops for Antioch University, the West Hollywood Library, and UCLA Writer’s Extension.
  • 2022
  • Published by: Red Hen Press
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summary

Kim Dower’s poetry has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “sensual and evocative . . . seamlessly combining humor and heartache,” and by O Magazine as “unexpected and sublime.” Acclaimed for combining the accessible and profound, her poems about motherhood are some of her most moving and disarmingly candid.  I Wore This Dress Today for You, Mom is an anthology of her poems on being a mother—childbirth to empty nest—as well as being a daughter with all the teenaged messiness, drama and conflict, to finally caring for one's mother suffering from dementia. Culled from her four collections as well as a selection of new work, these poems, heartbreaking, funny, surprising, and touching, explore the quirky, unexpected observations, and bittersweet moments mothers and daughters share. These evocative poems do not glorify mothers, but rather look under the hood of motherhood and explore the deep crevices and emotions of these impenetrable relationships: the love, despair, joy, humor and gratitude that fills our lives.

  • A POIGNANT COLLECTION exploring the messy and sublime relationships between mothers and daughters
  • A PERFECT MOTHER’S DAY GIFT: Poetry that is accessible, humorous, whimsical, dark, and sad – both literary and commercial
  • WRITTEN BY 2018-2020 WEST HOLLYWOOD POET LAUREATE

Table of Contents

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  1. Half-title, Title, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 1-6
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. 7-14
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  1. She’s never trusted happiness
  2. p. 15
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  1. Different Mothers
  2. pp. 16-17
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  1. I wore this dress today for you, mom
  2. pp. 18-19
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  1. Letter to My Son
  2. p. 20
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  1. Dubonnet
  2. p. 21
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  1. Game Over
  2. pp. 22-23
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  1. Clive Christian No. 1
  2. pp. 24-25
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  1. Goodbye to James Garner
  2. p. 26
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  1. No One Bleeds Forever
  2. p. 27
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  1. Birth
  2. pp. 28-29
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  1. Pregnant
  2. p. 30
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  1. The things I do in my car
  2. pp. 31-33
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  1. The Couple Next Door
  2. pp. 34-35
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  1. Sardines
  2. pp. 36-37
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  1. Everybody Loves Dinner
  2. pp. 38-39
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  1. My Mother Has a Fitful Sleep
  2. pp. 40-41
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  1. My Mother Wants Extra Crisp Bacon
  2. pp. 42-43
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  1. Gail Explains about My Mother’s Glasses
  2. pp. 44-45
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  1. Bottled Water
  2. pp. 46-47
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  1. Lunch with Gloria
  2. p. 48
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  1. The Salvation Army Won’t Take the Futon
  2. p. 49
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  1. Board and Care Clock
  2. p. 50
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  1. I Lost My Mother at Bloomingdale’s
  2. p. 51
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  1. The People in the Health Food Store
  2. pp. 52-53
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  1. Slice of Moon
  2. pp. 54-55
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  1. Dying is Not Black
  2. p. 56
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  1. The Delivery Man
  2. p. 57
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  1. Solace
  2. pp. 58-59
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  1. Little Glass Dishes
  2. pp. 60-61
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  1. How was your weekend,
  2. pp. 62-63
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  1. The Gene
  2. pp. 64-65
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  1. Easter Sunday
  2. p. 66
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  1. Visiting Eleanor
  2. p. 67
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  1. Sleep Over
  2. pp. 68-69
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  1. They Only Want Meatloaf
  2. p. 70
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  1. There will be things you do
  2. pp. 71-73
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  1. Minor Tremors
  2. pp. 74-75
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  1. Self-Portrait with Imaginary Brother
  2. p. 76
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  1. Mother’s Day
  2. p. 77
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  1. As long as my mother keeps getting mail
  2. p. 78
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  1. Time of Arrival
  2. p. 79
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  1. Thirst
  2. pp. 80-81
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  1. My Mother Bakes Sugar Cookies
  2. p. 82
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  1. Why We Dream
  2. p. 83
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  1. We Took Off in the Snow
  2. pp. 84-85
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  1. Alternative Flute
  2. pp. 86-87
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  1. Huge Rat in Laundry Room
  2. p. 88
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  1. Extraction
  2. p. 89
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  1. Progress
  2. pp. 90-91
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  1. We are like no one else in the world,
  2. pp. 92-93
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  1. Late September
  2. pp. 94-95
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  1. Daughter Suspects Dead Mother of Stealing Her Shoes
  2. p. 96
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  1. Would you donate your brain to science,
  2. p. 97
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  1. Cranky in Paradise
  2. pp. 98-99
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  1. While Washing the Dinner Dishes
  2. pp. 100-101
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  1. Scrambling Eggs
  2. p. 102
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  1. Fontanelle
  2. pp. 103-105
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  1. Boob Job
  2. pp. 106-107
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  1. Thanking My Breasts
  2. pp. 108-109
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  1. Damage
  2. pp. 110-111
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  1. Gift Cabinet
  2. pp. 112-113
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  1. Hands
  2. pp. 114-115
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  1. Tell Me
  2. pp. 116-117
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  1. After the Rain
  2. p. 118
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  1. What We Leave Behind
  2. pp. 119-126
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. p. 127
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  1. About the Author
  2. p. 128
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