Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson (with photos by May Lattanzio) have joined forces to produce an
intriguing look at mothers and motherhood in She Wore Emerald Then. The book is divided into two sections,
with Ball’s section entitled "The Genetic Code" and Howard-Johnson’s entitled "Dandelions in Autumn." Each author
presents fifteen poems.
In the poem "The Genetic Code" Ball tells the listener (a new baby) that its name was shouted from the seabed
billions of years ago, and all the stunning things that go into making a life culminated in his one changing
everything, sloppy, sleepy, spontaneous perfect.
Howard-Johnson’s "Dandelions in Autumn" offers a more common scene as the child holds the dandelions under the
mother’s chin to see if they will light her throat and thus delight the child. We sense the satisfaction of both
mother and child with such a simple yet extraordinary act.
A vivid image is found in Ball’s poem "Whorl." "He comes out crying / no need for a smack / eyes wide / fighting
the light and shocks / slippery, red and incredibly solid. Not all poems vaunt the birth of children. Ball’s
poem "Mother’s Bed" depicts a dying mother who has had a troubled life at a stage in her life "where you are always
welcome / nothing matters / except this peace / this place / containing every possible now."
In a similar vein Howard Johnson’s poem "Mother and Daughter—The Things I Learned from Depends and Other
Events" paints a picture of what it was like to take care of her aging mother. "I am tired as I was in my twenties
trailing after toddlers. Mine the job of mothering again."
This collection of poems offers some traditional scenes of mother / daughter relationships and others that are
different and intriguing.