Kim Dower's I Wore This Dress Today for You, Mom finds the former City Poet Laureate of West Hollywood celebrating a colorful mosaic of mothering moments that range from the spiritual to the practical. This poetry collection also pays homage to the matriarchs in her life, including her Russian grandmother, and their different mothering styles.
Widely admired for her ability to texturize the everyday with the sublime, Dower (Sunbathing on Tyrone Power's Grave) captures with poetic grace exquisite remembrances of childhood and the special pains and pleasures of mothering a child about to fly the nest. In "I Lost My Mother in Bloomingdale's," the author tries on a frilly bathing suit when she realizes with horror that her mentally fragile mom has left the store without any ID or money. The title poem, suffused with tenderness, touches upon the core of a mother-daughter relationship and the desire to please one's parent, while "There Will Be Things You Do" relishes the inherited behaviors that are passed on through generations. Dower explores female physicality with a splendid ode to breasts, thanking them for their companionship, and describes such mundane experiences as getting a root canal and doing the dishes with vibrant imagery.
Featuring gorgeous gems from Dower's four poetry collections and new pieces energized by the sheer power of her wit and irreverent style, I Wore This Dress Today for You, Mom will make readers both groan at and delight in recognition of the everyday absurdities and magical moments that add up to a lifetime of irreplaceable memories. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer