{"id":16599,"date":"2011-06-29T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=16599"},"modified":"2011-06-29T12:42:04","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T16:42:04","slug":"poem-because-my-daughters-are-growing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/29\/poem-because-my-daughters-are-growing\/","title":{"rendered":"Poem: Because my daughters are growing,"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Tayve Neese\u2019s unsettling poem \u201cBecause my daughters are growing.\u201d The children\u2019s refrain (\u201cOh, Spider Mother\u201d) about their mother turns out, in that unforgettable final turn, to prefigure their own (potential) futures as mothers, \u201ca small life\u201d inside them that “struggles like an angry fly.\u201d Good poems change what we see: the next time I see a pregnant woman, thanks (I think!) to Neese, that\u2019s what I will see<\/em>. \u2014Dan Chiasson<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

BECAUSE MY DAUGHTERS ARE GROWING,<\/p>\n

grief has stained and doubled my limbs.
\nEach daughter I enfold in arms<\/p>\n

sees my blurred eyes as multi-faceted.
\nOh, spider-mother, they tease. <\/p>\n

Oh, spider-mother, they sing
\nall their days over their sweeping,<\/p>\n

their small games with shells.
\nAnd I lament more as their legs <\/p>\n

grow tall and thick, their hips
\nspread like a terrible web<\/p>\n

in which a small life will stick,
\nstruggle like an angry fly.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Tayve Neese\u2019s unsettling poem \u201cBecause my daughters are growing.\u201d The children\u2019s refrain (\u201cOh, Spider Mother\u201d) about their mother turns out, in that unforgettable final turn, to prefigure their own (potential) futures as mothers, \u201ca small life\u201d inside them that “struggles like an angry fly.\u201d Good poems change what we see: the next time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[498],"tags":[280,165,2491],"class_list":["post-16599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-2","tag-dan-chiasson","tag-poetry","tag-tayve-neese"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoem: Because my daughters are growing, by Tayve Neese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"June 29, 2011 \u2013 This is Tayve Neese\u2019s unsettling poem \u201cBecause 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