There’s something about a poem that can seize you with a sudden breath and quietly press a hand to your heart. The right words, arranged just so, can awaken emotions we barely knew were there—especially when it comes to the experience of motherhood. It’s a journey of tenderness and turmoil, strength and vulnerability, endless love and difficult letting go. Today, I want to share four poems that have touched me deeply with their honest, sometimes playful, and always poignant reflections on what it means to be a mother or a child.
What Children Say
by Kate Baer
Kate Baer’s poem is a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the constant contradictions that define young children’s needs and moods. From frustration to stubbornness, to desperate pleas for comfort, the poem captures the everyday emotional rollercoaster parents navigate. The child vacillates between demanding help and fiercely asserting independence—“I can’t do it. I won’t do it”—then abruptly switches to needing reassurance and closeness: “You must hold me. You must rock me.”
The poem’s rhythm mimics the ebb and flow of a child’s feelings, showing just how exhausting—and yet deeply intimate—this dance can be. As parents, we’re called to hold space for every contradiction, every mood swing, every whispered fear. Baer’s lines remind us that behind every demand is a little heart wrestling with the world.
The Lanyard
by Billy Collins
Billy Collins’ The Lanyard is a tender and humorous meditation on the give-and-take of mother-child relationships. The poem recounts a childhood memory: braiding a lanyard as a gift for his mother, a simple craft made with plastic strips at summer camp. What makes this poem so striking is its quiet honesty about the imbalance in the exchange.
The mother “gave me life and milk,” nurtured him through sickness, and nurtured him in countless ways, while he gave back a lanyard—a humble, imperfect token. Collins captures the bittersweet truth that no matter how much we give our mothers, we can never truly repay them. Yet the poem is full of gratitude, affection, and that universal feeling of wanting to make things right, even if the gift feels small.
The Committee Weighs In
by Andrea Cohen
Andrea Cohen’s short poem brings a touch of dark humor to the parent-child relationship. It imagines a playful exchange where the speaker tells their mother they’ve won the Nobel Prize, only for the mother to respond with amused skepticism: “Again? Which discipline this time?”
This poem is more than a joke; it’s a glimpse into a coping mechanism—a game where the child pretends to be someone extraordinary, and the mother pretends she isn’t gone. It speaks to the way families handle loss and absence with imagination and humor, maintaining connection through shared stories and playful denial. It’s a reminder that motherhood—and the loss of it—can be approached in many different ways, often complicated and deeply human.
Mother, a Cradle to Hold Me
by Maya Angelou
No discussion of motherhood poetry would be complete without the profound voice of Maya Angelou. In Mother, a Cradle to Hold Me, Angelou beautifully traces the journey from infancy to adulthood, exploring the evolving bond between mother and child. The poem begins with the intimate physical closeness of early days—the mother’s arms molded into a cradle, her voice tuned to soothe.
But it moves beyond that to the inevitable process of separation, the child’s fear of being left behind, and the mother’s gentle reassurance that growth requires distance. Angelou’s words capture the push and pull of love that is both protective and freeing. She celebrates the mother’s enduring presence—through smiles, frowns, songs, and even moments of teenage rebellion.
The poem is a testament to the resilience of the maternal bond, one that survives ignorance and mockery, selfishness and misunderstanding, growing stronger with time and learning. It’s a tribute not only to mothers but to the imperfect, beautiful dance of family life.
The Power of Poetry to Illuminate Motherhood
Each of these poems reveals a different facet of motherhood—the impatience and tenderness of children, the gratitude and complexity of giving and receiving love, the ways families cope with absence, and the deep, lifelong bond between mother and child. Together, they form a tapestry of emotion that is both personal and universal.
For those of us who are mothers, children, or anyone touched by the experience, poetry offers a way to feel seen and understood. It can hold the contradictions, the grief, and the joy in a few well-chosen lines. Reading these poems can leave us breathless, emotional, and profoundly connected to the shared human experience.
What poems about parenting or motherhood move you? Are there verses that have held you up or opened your heart? Poetry has a way of doing both, and sharing these four beautiful pieces is just one small way to honor the intricate, tender, and endlessly powerful world of motherhood.
