Letters to My Mother
Letters to My Mother
Back cover text:
They forego promotion and pay packets.
They stay at home. They are night watchers
Who feed and rock and calm to sleep
They tie their precious gifts to their back
Or stagger in tired pride, pushing our future
They are the bravest soldiers – marching on. – Mothers All
How does our relationship with our mothers shape the people we become? Does the experience of motherhood change us?
Bashabi Fraser commemorates her mother and the conversations they would have together. Exploring themes of motherhood, empowerment, love and loss, the acclaimed poet draws on her Indian and British life experience, engaging with hard-hitting current issues such as climate change, war and the prevalence of violence against women worldwide.
A son questions his mother’s love after she has learned about his violent deeds. The biblical Eve is shown as a liberator. A daughter of India demands justice from her society. Fraser’s poetry is powerful and passionate as she contemplates the experience of motherhood and celebrates the life of her own mother and that of other mothers.
Table of contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Letters to My Mother
I saw you last night
The things you did for us
I will remember you
If I could bring you back
The boy from Chittagong
Thundering hooves
The flower thieves
The hesitant flowers
In London where you were
St George’s Hospital
The speeding car
The planned journey
A confluence
A presence in absence
Frozen frolic
An Icelandic Saga: i
An Icelandic Saga: ii
Climate refugees
As Europe debates Turkey’s entry
Japan’s triple jeopardy
The British barricade of snow
Nero’s Guests
Camp Hope
Liu Xiaobo
Arab Spring
Arab Women
St Augustine’s Church
Medical Aid for Palestine
Women vote in Jalalabad
Darkling I listen
Anoushka in Usher Hall
Your granddaughter in London
Interlude
She was my mother
Letters to Other Mothers
Mothers All
Brazenly – in cafes
You cannot silence me
Abandoned: i
Restored: ii
Urban Gothic: London during World War II
Eve: the liberator
She
My Aunt Marge
My Monimashi
Shamsad Rahim
A breaker
The Song of a Gypsy
Living Joy
Laure
Who was the boy?
Will you remember me?
Awakening
Light where the sun sets
Light a candle for me
I am your daughter
Rupsha
For Nisha and Ben on your wedding day
To Tithi on your wedding day
Mariam
Bhopal now
I am that child