Storyteller Poetry Review has just published 5 of my poems about my wonderful mother-in-law. Some have been published before; some are first-timers. My thanks to editor Sharon Knutson for this opportunity to share an extraordinary life.
https://stortellerpoetryreview.blogspot.com/2025/05/honoring-mother-in-law-part-2.html
My poem “Someone Else’s Memory” was published today at Writing in a Woman’s Voice. My thanks to editor Beate Sigriddaughter.
Pat and I sit drinking cocoa
on a snow-clad December day.
Remember that Christmas Eve,
she says, when we were young
and went caroling with my cousins?
I gave you my blue stocking cap
you wound round and round
your neck to stay warm.
And in a rush, I remember the night,
the carols, that Bill sang loud
and out of tune, my new, not-warm-
enough red coat, and her cap
I found years later in a crushed box
on the closet floor, dirty from muddy boots
and dust, wondered who it belonged to,
how it wound up there—the cap I washed
and reached out the car window to give
to a homeless man, how he thanked me
and put it on, wrapping it round and round
his neck, grinning through broken teeth.
My third Christmas,
Dad pulled the armchair
in front of the tree.
I sat on Mother’s lap
with my favorite book.
Her gold crepe dressing gown
had fake leopard lapels.
I wore a nightie with flounces
and ribbons. Dad set up
the tripod and flood lights,
focused the Argus C-3.
Mother began to read.
I nestled so close
I could hear her heartbeat.
She got to the part,
“More rapid than eagles
his coursers they came,…”
Dad had his shot,
turned the flood lights off.
Mother shut the book,
nudged me off her lap.
– Sarah Russell
First published in Vita Brevis
Photo Source
Sarah Russell Poetry 