These poems sit with a mother in the aftermath of a loss. They consider what lasts and what shifts; what it means to bear witness and how we might hold such moments ourselves. They celebrate the essential child-self that carries aliveness and hopefulness within. As loss moves through us, how are we changed? And how, if we are lucky, do we go on— tilting and re-tilting the prism of perception, opening new chambers of the heart?

Anya Kirshbaum is a queer poet and somatic therapist living in Seattle, Washington. Her work has appeared in The Comstock Review, Cirque, MER-Mom Egg Review, Crannóg and Solstice Literary Magazine. She was a finalist for the New Millennium Writing Awards and was the recipient of the 2023 Banyan Poetry Prize.

I: @anyakirshbaum
F: Anya Kirshbaum