What inspires you in this poem? What drew you to it? Artist Janice Redman: It just spoke so clearly to me. This is how it is to be a mother, to be a human being, to live this life in this body that feels like it is always just hanging on, being asked to do so much. Poet Nancy Reddy: Just a bit about the context of the poem: becoming a mother was (is!) really hard for me, and many of the poems I’ve written for the book I’m finishing now explore the darkness and difficulty of early motherhood – but in this poem I really wanted to capture some of the joy that’s also the experience of mothering (even with all the hair loss and cracked nipples and general insanity of small children).

Collaborators: Nancy Reddy is the author of Double Jinx, a winner of the National Poetry Series, and the chapbook Acadiana. She teaches writing at Stockton University. Artist Janice Redman is a sculptor who lives on Cape Cod. Her work is in the permanent collections of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.

Full Q&A and Broadside Here