Review - Helen Rice - I'm Not Your Mother
Helen Rice is an artist and performer based in Sheffield. In 2019, Helen was one of six poets chosen for the Wise Talk performance development programme, funded by Arts Council England. Visit her website for videos and more.
I’m not your mother rounds off a hat trick of my reviews of books by women that have related themes but are written with very different emotional angles and style. In girls etc by Rhian Elizabeth we had the strained mother-child relationship, in Love the Albatross by Deborah Harvey we had an estranged mother-child relationship, and with Helen Rice’s I’m not your mother we have the challenge of the stepmother-child relationship, and of being childless herself. This has become topical this year due to comments made about Kamala Harris by Republican opponents, and other attacks by them on childless women like Taylor Swift. Harris has been a stepmother for many years, which gives us an insight into the minds of those that view this role in a less than positive light. Let’s not just blame Americans, though - Theresa May also had snide comments made about her childless state when running for PM.
Helen’s poems reveal this challenge to us in a direct, honest, and sometimes witty, sometimes poignant way that allows us to recognise the situation quickly and, importantly, empathise with it. Some of the poems are, I’m sure, instantly recognisable to any mother, but we see the layer of subtle complexity that being a stepmother adds to the mix.
In Saturday Kitchen, the washing up chore is interrupted by being blasted repeatedly by a NERF gun before the boy disappears to reload.
It ends with
I smile
and say to an empty room
I really love this quality time we get to spend together
I’m a great believer in brevity in poetry and some of the poems are very short indeed, but make their point perfectly. Buns is a poem that comes in a section of the book that addresses childlessness. It is only six lines long but they are six perfect lines.
The poems are a mix of rhyme and free verse (with one longer prose piece) but there are variations in length, style and tone that keep it interesting while remaining true to the poet’s voice and theme. Sometimes the rhymes are subtle or near rhyme; High Shelves uses son, often and on together, then shelves, bulbs and clubs.
I particularly like Nanny State, where the poet urges us to consider the wider care of children - that it’s OK for us as a society to help parent all children.
I’m not your mother
and I don’t have to be
to want you to learn
with a full belly
This pamphlet is full of very accessible poems that make you pause to think and to empathise.
If you buy the book you also get access to an audio reading of the poems which I always enjoy hearing the poet’s interpretation alongside the printed versions.
This is a very good first collection from Helen I’m looking forward to what she produces in the future.
I’m Not Your Mother is published by Written Off Publishing and is available here.