The book opens with a scene of a newborn daughter, Eleanor, on a mother\u2019s chest, with the grandparent speaker experiencing sympathy twinges in her own womb (\u201cGrandmothers\u201d). Another poem prays for infants in their \u201csheltering globes\u201d in an intensive care unit, where \u201cmy first grandchild\u201d was treated (\u201cNeonatal ICU Prayer\u201d). In \u201cAlternate Reality,\u201d set at Christmastime, a 2-year-old granddaughter, Evelyn, misidentifies a sanitation worker as Santa Claus while on a wintry walk. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a speaker struggles to connect with her granddaughter over a video call and longs for in-person outings (\u201cGrandparenting in the Time of Covid-19\u201d). Foley shares other snapshots of life as a grandmother, from nature walks to quirky conversations to meals with grandchildren. Poems marvel at grandchildren\u2019s wisdom; in \u201cOn the Eve of June,\u201d when a dog dies, a granddaughter tells the speaker that the pup \u201chas just gone home\u2014 \/ her old one.\u201d Foley concludes with a fantasy of leaving the \u201cuncivil world\u201d behind to lead a more serene life, devoted to raising grandkids and appreciating the beauty of nature with them (\u201cHoliness\u201d). Overall, Foley\u2019s poems are concise and sincere. She acutely captures youngsters\u2019 silly speech, and the works effectively evoke the speakers\u2019 surroundings; a pushy midwife at a granddaughter\u2019s birth, she writes, \u201cherds us like livestock \/ back to our holding pen, \/ to lap stale coffee\u201d (\u201cGrandmothers\u201d). Some readers may find the collection\u2019s depiction of grandparenthood to be somewhat idealized, as it glosses over many of the role\u2019s emotional and physical challenges. However, the poet repeatedly transforms quotidian moments into soulful meditations; for example, upon spotting a granddaughter\u2019s parents greeting the toddler from a window, a speaker tells readers, \u201cImagine \/ seeing your reason for being, \/ framed, like a photograph, \/ waving and smiling at you\u201d (\u201cImagine\u201d). <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The book opens with a scene of a newborn daughter, Eleanor, on a mother\u2019s chest, with the grandparent speaker experiencing sympathy twinges in her own womb (\u201cGrandmothers\u201d). Another poem prays for infants in their \u201csheltering globes\u201d in an intensive care unit, where \u201cmy first grandchild\u201d was treated (\u201cNeonatal ICU Prayer\u201d). In \u201cAlternate Reality,\u201d set at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}