Mamicka : An Essay and Poems (Paperback)

A poetry chapbook from AQP: Mamicka by Patrick Meighan began as Meighan's personal journey to get in touch with his Slavic roots, but what it became is something far more universal - an expression of the longing of a son to hold onto memories of the mother he lost to Alzheimer's. One after another, the poems conjure memories in metaphor. Each one flickers with its own special light and then burns out. Memories, we learn, are like sea glass polished by suffering and time. Memories, we find, are like chocolate, melting in a schoolgirl's mouth. Memories, in the end, thin like hair and gradually fall away. The poems themselves slip back and forth through time, much like Mamicka's mind. One moment, the poet's voice is that of a child, a pest, underfoot in Mamicka's kitchen. The next, it is that of a middle-aged man, solemnly reflecting on heredity. The poems are prayers. Prayers for Mamicka (or to her). Above all, they are prayers for memory