A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together through Dementia by Felicia Mitchell

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together through Dementia by Felicia Mitchell Bailey Quinn Felicia Mitchell. A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together through Dementia. Wising Up Press, 2022. 87 p. Author of Waltzing with Horses (2014) and the chapbook The Cleft of the Rock (2009), Felicia Mitchell debuts her newest collection, A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together through Dementia, in which she chronicles the story of her mother, Audrey, and her struggle with dementia. Although dementia is a difficult experience to navigate, Mitchell weaves together a narrative arc that spans six sections and details not only her own memories, but her mother's memories as well. Mitchell plays with narrative perspective, utilizing an I-speaker to blur the line between reality and memory. At times, it is clear that the speaker is either Audrey or Mitchell herself; however, in some poems the speaker is not clearly defined. By shifting between perspectives, Mitchell is not only able to mimic the reality-distorting effects of dementia, but she also allows herself to fill in parts of the story on behalf of her mother, who was unable to remember those stories as her memory loss progressed. In Section V (of six), titled "wanting to find the words," Mitchell even steps directly into her mother's perspective, writing from Audrey's point of view. In these poems, Mitchell imagines Audrey's frustration with her cognitive decline: "I [End Page 342] am still here./My eyes are the keyhole/to a past we share" (53). By stepping into the role of her own mother, Mitchell is able to "find the words" that Audrey may not be able to find, due to the cognitive and linguistic decline that accompanies dementia. Memory and the way in which we pass on our memories is a major motif throughout. One way Mitchell explores memory is through the physical objects we tie to memories. In passing down familial heirlooms we are, in essence, passing down the stories of the people who owned them—so long as we share the stories attached to the objects. This idea comes through in poems such as "A Half of a Scarf" where the speaker details objects tied to her mother's memories of her family: In her uncle's well-worn sea chest,with sweaters and her sister's schoolworkfrom 1928, her son's last report card,a strand of glass pearls her husband gave her,and two hand-knitted shawlsmade by a cousin once removed. (12) Most importantly, however, is "a half of a scarf from her mother" which the speaker later reveals, is "the sort of heirloom whose history/my mother does not want me to forget" (12). The speaker explains that, despite not knowing where or how her grandmother came across the scarf, the scarf is tied to the "happy half" of her grandmother's story, and therefore must be kept and remembered. Each item in this poem is assigned a specific family member, and with it, we assume a story. Although those stories are never told to the reader, we can infer that each one has a special place in the mother's heart in the same way the scarf does. After her own mother dies, Mitchell considers keepsakes left behind that contain treasured memories in the poem "Inheritance": "Three place settings of silver,/often tarnished but always sparking/with memories of how I polished their silver/before my parents had to sell it" (73). Mitchell continues to explore the relationship between memory and objects in Section II, titled "why things so complicated." This section is comprised of found poems from Audrey's letters and notes from conversations throughout the years, ranging from 1990 to 2004. As the poems progress, each becomes more broken in language, representing the cognitive decline experienced by those who have dementia. In [End Page 343] utilizing the found poem structure, Mitchell is able to explore her own thoughts, feelings, and memories of her mother through her mother's own words. Her mother's story, in essence, becomes her own through her retelling. In this, the found poems represent a point made in the final poem, "Bedtime...