My Mother Never Died Before

2nd Place Winner of The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize, 2020




Because everybody has a mother. And everybody's going to lose her.




A collection of poems inspired by one woman's relationship with her mother, the chapbook My Mother Never Died Before and Other Poems sounds heavy, but lands light. The first half includes poems written after the mother's death. The poet focuses on the everyday, mundane details-what the funeral home visit was like, how birds felt like messages, the unexpected realities of life without one's mother. The second half pulls back the camera to include poems written before the death, which capture the ups and downs of the mother-child relationship. Wry humor and a companionable narrative style invite the reader in to one particular take on a universal story.




"My Mother Never Died Before is a joyful read, full of surprises. Marcia B. Loughran shows her versatility and variety while bringing a welcome dose of humor to this collection, which is hard to pull off in poems about death. The many familiar scenes here-shopping for caskets, cleaning out papers after a parent has died, touching their intimate objects like breath mints and combs-are all painted with such clarity and reality."

-Amy Miller, Contest Judge, 2020




"With the strength of language precise yet lyrical, odd but familiar, full of heart though refreshingly void of even a hint of the saccharine, Loughran has written a eulogy that would make any mother proud..."

-Lissa Kiernan, Fou?nding Director of the Poetry Barn




"The mother at the center of these poems emerges as someone who was witty, adventurous and, above all, kind. I found myself longing to sit in her yellow kitchen while making home-made Christmas ornaments over a cup of tea, with milk from a bone china jug."

-Cusi Cram, Arts Professor, Tisch School of the Arts