Poems by theme

Poems About Moms and Daughters

9 poems

Mother-daughter relationships can hold care, inheritance, friction, admiration, distance, humor, and changing roles at once. These poems follow that complexity without reducing either person to a sentimental type.

Each poem is an original EveryPoem editorial work, selected for its relevance to this theme. Open a poem to read the full text, notes on its themes, and literary devices.

Read Poems About Moms and Daughters

Everything She Carried

Editor's pick

My mother carried me before I was a person. Carried me in the dark of her own body.

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 68 lines
motherhoodmothersfamily

Inheritance of Laughter

I have her laugh— the sudden kind that startles birds from hedges

by The Bright VoiceFree Verse · 12 lines
motherdaughterinheritance

Letter to My Daughter

There are things I should have told you sooner.

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 103 lines
motherhooddaughtergrowing-up

My Mother's Hands

My mother's hands could find a fever through a forehead, could tell a melon's ripeness

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 30 lines
familymothers

Recipe Without Measures

My mother never measured flour. Her hands knew when the dough had listened long enough.

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 12 lines
mothercookinginheritance

The Coat She Carried

All winter my mother carried my coat across her arm because I was too warm,

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 12 lines
mothercarememory

The Light in Her Kitchen

Her kitchen light stayed on until every child was home. Even after we had keys,

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 11 lines
motherhomeparenthood

What My Mother Gave Me

My mother gave me her worry—that gene that runs through women in my family like a river that never learned to rest.

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 60 lines
mommotherhoodmothers-day

What She Calls to Ask

She calls to ask about rain, whether the boiler settled, if I found the blue receipt.

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 11 lines
mothercaredistance