Introduction -- Baby and toddler. Stretching the skin of the world : The cyclist / Andrew Johnston. Kelly's bump / Dilys Rose. Headless portrait of a pregnant woman / Esther Ottaway. ICU / Robyn Johnson. Helpless / Graham Lindsay. Given / Melinda Smith. Bedtime story / Dilys Rose. The first gesture / Sarah Broom. Delivery / Beverly Martens. The war is over / Bernadette Hall. Yellow plastic ducks / Graham Lindsay. Aroundabout / Helen Lehndorf. To Finn, before he walks / Elizabeth Smither. Tooth / Siobhan Harvey. Languages / Jan Hutchison. Last-born / Cushla Managh. Faux pas / Claire Hardie. Tears / Anahera Gildea. Child / Sylvia Plath. XIV from Wellington letter / Lauris Edmond. Thirty months / Paul Mitchell. After the rains / Ruth Arnison. Still life ; Untitled / Joanna Margaret Paul. Yellow lava lava, Wellington / Anne Kennedy. The vending machine / Anna Jackson. Letter to a two-year-old / Carol Rumens. Shoved at Memorial Park / Marcel Currin. Quickstep with three-year-old / Ian C Smith. Being a poet / Jenny Bornholdt. Poetry in parenting / Karen Gray. Revisiting Church Square / David Howard -- Young children. Stand here in front of me : from poems for Jo. Listening ; Night hound ; Blackberrying / Peter Bland. A poor man / Carol Rumens. The 144 waltz / Meredi Ortega. For a five-year-old / Fleur Adcock. Rite of passage / Sharon Olds. Birdlings / Ruth Pettis. The house spider / SK Kelen. House and children / Gregory O'Brien. Coverage / Tim Jones. 1980 / Paola Bilsborough. 35/10 / Sharon Olds. Hitting children / Maurice McNamara. Red suit / Ben Brown. Hide and seek / Art Nahill. Spoons / Michael Harlow. Dervish as son / Jacqueline Crompton Ottaway. Maintaining the family unit / James Brown. Furrows of the sea / Brian Turner. The sign of Saturn / Sharon Olds. A kite for Michael and Christopher / Seamus Heaney. Momentary regret / Debbie Cartwright. Countdown / Sue Wootton. The shopping / Cilla McQueen. Child crying out ; Brown circle / Louise Glück. The N word / Alison Wong. The peacock of motherhood / Anna Jackson. Surfacing / Vincent O'Sullivan. Your secret life / Harry Ricketts. Children / Bill Manhire -- Teenagers and adult children. Each new face of our days together : 'Clean as a whistle' I say. 'That's what I want.' / Adrienne Janson. Distances / Iain Lonie. Three poems for Sam / Brigid Lowry. It allows a portrait in line scan at fifteen / Les Murray. Sixteen / Lauris Edmond. Visiting Persophone / Philip Gross. Jam / Jenny Powell-Chalmers. Visitor / John Malone. Toyota Corolla ; Sonless man / Leonard Lambert. Katherine / Lauris Edmond. Mother and daughter, the translation / Kapka Kassabova. Festive lentils / James Norcliffe. On leaving / Diane Brown. The strong mothers / Rachel Bush. Goldfish / Vivienne Plumb. Front and back / Diana Bridge. All that / Kay McKenzie Cooke. Steps / Brian Turner. Your secret life 2 / Harry Ricketts. Stay in touch / Laurice Gilbert. Erstwhile / Chris Wallace-Crabbe. Parenting / Rosemary Wildblood. Cucumber: a short essay / Lauris Edmond. Listening to Mum (after the birth of my child) / Dave Robertson. Red nails / Elizabeth Coleman. The names / Lauris Edmond.
Summary:
Collection of 89 poems ranging across territory familiar to all parents: joy, anxiety, exhilaration, grief, tenderness, pride and undying love.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.