Mother Said (edition 1996)

What a funny book, but what a tragic book at the same time. I read this book on the heels of another book, [Father Said: Poems], by the same author because that book spoke to me. This book was even heavier as this was the book with the Jewish mother. You know that character, of course. She's the one who lays on the guilt trips. She's the person who speaks about her death during her entire lifetime. Naturally, she is also the person who is most likely to talk about the following:

Poked-Out Eye

Don't stick your head out of the window,
Mother said, while your father is driving.
A branch from a tree can poke out
your eye & even if he stops in time,
& is able to find it among all the fallen leaves,
you can't just put it back into the socket,
& expect it to work like it did before.
A doctor will have to reconnect the tissues,
& if any part is damaged--your father
might have stepped on it before finding it--
it'll never work right & everyone
will know it's defective,
because of the way that you squint.

Join the family in this book -- for a laugh, for a bit of nostalgia, or just to absorb some of that Jewish guilt. It's an experience you'll remember. ( )

Morsomt :) ( )