My Mother's Daughter

By Michelle Augello-Page

The poems in this collection comprise an intimate, heartbreaking, and joyful exploration into the world of women, mothers, and daughters. Written between 1998-2002, these poems chronicle Michelle Augello-Page's journey, beginning with the birth of her first child and ending with the break-up of her marriage. "My Mother's Daughter" is rooted in the bonds that both break us and give us strength.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Augello-Page
• Release date: Sep 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301460441

Michelle Augello-Page

Michelle Augello-Page writes poetry, erotica, and dark fiction. Her work has appeared in art galleries, online journals, print publications, anthologies, e-books, and audio formats. Her book of collected stories, Into the Woods, was published in March 2014 by Oneiros Books.

Book preview

"or perhaps

in the palace of time

our lives are a circular stair

and I am turning."

~ Lucille Clifton

*

Beginning

The day we took an axe to the wall

we were young, and complicated

we took turns swinging until

we put the tool aside and began

grabbing pieces of sheet rock

with our hands

Then we brought in my mattress

and his amp, and cluttered the room

with papers and pens, his electric

my acoustic, magazines and books

It was only us then

and the mornings were grey

we slept in each others dreams until

mid-afternoon and began learning

what it meant to love.

*

Forever

I suppose the first fight is always

the worst fight

words escaping from a dark place

where love sheds no light

and are only born from pain

I love him and the words stutter

in my throat, sitting in the room

next to him, tears blurring my vision

I don’t know how we got to this place

we separate

The distance between us is harmful

it twists inside me, leaving me

tired and alone

We don’t make up, there’s no more

to say, we go to bed holding each other

and tears fall still, even though

he tells me he’ll be there, always

forever

Inside, our child stirs

as if awakened from the longest sleep

and I wonder how much of our life

did we really live before now?

*

Storm Clouds

your eyelashes flicker

in the light, the irises

expand black

underneath the ticking

of my heart, each

i love you detonates

touching my wrists

the