Now and Then, Mothers and Daughters
The present moment is brief and sudden, and it’s really all we have: the feel of our feet on the ground, the endless stream of thoughts in our heads, and the visions before our eyes. We live in this messed.
The article highlights how seven contemporary poets use memory and history to understand the present moment. These poets examine personal and collective pasts to make sense of today’s complex world. For instance, Tina Chang, Brenda Hillman, and Layli Long Soldier focus on the relationships between mothers and daughters, while Erin Belieu reflects on a lifetime of memories. Samuel Amadon and two translations—of Mirabai’s poems and Radu Vancu’s work—also engage with history to illuminate the present. The poets emphasize the importance of paying attention to the present, even in its darkness, as a way to navigate uncertainty. The article suggests that understanding our origins and connections can help us find meaning in a chaotic world.
Samuel Amadon’s collection Divers reimagines the sonnet—a traditional 14-line poetic form—as a lively, sensory-driven poem that celebrates the ordinary. Amadon’s sonnets are described as spring-loaded and sonically awake, meaning they are energetic and full of sound, focusing on details like pollen on a porch or cars curving out of driveways. The collection acts as a seasonal day book, tracking changes across a year, from blooming flowers to decay. Amadon’s work highlights how poetry can transform everyday experiences into something beautiful and meaningful, aligning with the ideas of poet Wallace Stevens, who wrote about finding order in the world around us.
Erin Belieu’s Cocklebur: New and Selected Poems is a retrospective volume showcasing her poetic development over three decades. The collection spans her early works from the 1990s, marked by graceful descriptions and hidden trauma, to her more recent politically engaged and musically loose poems. Belieu’s style blends sarcasm with a grounded, contemporary realism, often referencing the unfailingly disappointing real world. Her new poems are described as open, uncertain, and slowly unfurling, meaning they evolve gradually and embrace ambiguity. The collection explores how childhood stories and fears shape adult lives, with lines like The stories we’re told/as children reside/ permanently inside us illustrating this theme.
Tina Chang’s collection Lion examines the bonds between mothers and daughters, as well as the threats faced by Asian American women, particularly during the pandemic. Chang writes, I am destined to be brutally seen, reflecting her exploration of visibility and invisibility. The book addresses the sacrifices of her mother, who offered it all to me, and the protection she provides to her own daughter, described as a tender shoot,/ mothered, until she is an orchestra of light. Chang also meditates on violence against Asian American women, such as the 2022 murder of Michelle Alyssa Go, using poetry to process grief and empathy. The collection balances danger with tenderness, showing how poetry can respond to societal issues.
Brenda Hillman’s Still House in the Desert is a deeply personal collection that traces her mother’s life and her own childhood through short, atomized lyrics and extended pieces. Hillman’s atomizing approach refers to breaking down experiences into small, vivid details, often drawing from the 1950s, a period marked by nuclear testing and the introduction of early computers. The poems juxtapose geological time with human history, such as noting that It is half a century before you will mourn your mother. Hillman’s work reveals how grief can be examined under a microscope, with everything lost still feeling alive. The collection blends personal and historical perspectives to create a unique meditation on time and memory.
Layli Long Soldier’s We is a multifaceted collection combining poetry, prose, visual art, and essays. Long Soldier, a finalist for the 2026 National Book Award, explores themes like the murder of George Floyd, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), and the role of art in society. The collection includes lyric sequences, visual poems, and rigorous notes, creating a layered narrative. Long Soldier emphasizes the idea of treaty inheritor, meaning anyone living on Native land is connected to historical agreements like the 1868 treaty. The book blends rage and tenderness, offering a candid look at contemporary issues while honoring Indigenous perspectives.
Mirabai, a 16th-century Indian mystic and poet, is the subject of Blue Like My Beloved, a new translation by Chloe Martinez. Mirabai is known for her devotion to the god Krishna, whom she calls Mira’s man, Mountain-lifting lord. Martinez’s translation modernizes Mirabai’s language, blending historical and contemporary idioms, such as Baddies can go jump in a fire. The poems are described as indomitable, sexy, and earnest, bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. Martinez’s work makes Mirabai’s 500-year-old poetry feel urgent and accessible, introducing her to new audiences in the English-speaking world.
Radu Vancu’s *The Rope in Bloom* is a dark, sprawling epic poem that explores grief through the imagined voice of the poet’s father, who died by suicide. The poem is structured in *tercets*, or three-line stanzas, reminiscent of Dante’s *Divine Comedy*. Each canto is followed by prose commentary where Vancu reflects on the poem’s creation and broader historical themes. The dead exist in a *mirror-world*, where their perspectives are reversed, creating a balance between life and death. Vancu’s work draws on predecessors like John Berryman’s *Dream Songs* and Seamus Heaney’s *Station Island*, blending classical forms with contemporary concerns. The epic offers a sweeping vision of how the past shapes the present, presenting a challenging yet beautiful reflection on human existence.
