In this Book
- I Wore this Dress Today For You, Mom
- Book
- 2022
- Published by: Red Hen Press
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
- Different Mothers
- pp. 16-17
- I wore this dress today for you, mom
- pp. 18-19
- Letter to My Son
- p. 20
- Clive Christian No. 1
- pp. 24-25
- The things I do in my car
- pp. 31-33
- The Couple Next Door
- pp. 34-35
- Everybody Loves Dinner
- pp. 38-39
- My Mother Has a Fitful Sleep
- pp. 40-41
- My Mother Wants Extra Crisp Bacon
- pp. 42-43
- Bottled Water
- pp. 46-47
- Lunch with Gloria
- p. 48
- Board and Care Clock
- p. 50
- The People in the Health Food Store
- pp. 52-53
- Slice of Moon
- pp. 54-55
- Dying is Not Black
- p. 56
- The Delivery Man
- p. 57
- Little Glass Dishes
- pp. 60-61
- How was your weekend,
- pp. 62-63
- Easter Sunday
- p. 66
- Visiting Eleanor
- p. 67
- Sleep Over
- pp. 68-69
- There will be things you do
- pp. 71-73
- Minor Tremors
- pp. 74-75
- Mother’s Day
- p. 77
- Time of Arrival
- p. 79
- Why We Dream
- p. 83
- We Took Off in the Snow
- pp. 84-85
- Alternative Flute
- pp. 86-87
- Extraction
- p. 89
- Late September
- pp. 94-95
- Cranky in Paradise
- pp. 98-99
- While Washing the Dinner Dishes
- pp. 100-101
- Scrambling Eggs
- p. 102
- Fontanelle
- pp. 103-105
- Thanking My Breasts
- pp. 108-109
- Gift Cabinet
- pp. 112-113
- After the Rain
- p. 118
- What We Leave Behind
- pp. 119-126
- Acknowledgments
- p. 127
- About the Author
- p. 128