Hold Your People Close
©2021 Susan Noyes Anderson
image used with permission from KmBerggren
Always hold your people close.
Don’t let them stray too far.
Bear them within, as a reminder
who you really are.
Family Relationship Poems
My heart is most pleased and blessed by family and family relationship poems, for they are closest to my heart. Some of these offerings are funny, moving, nostalgic, or religious. Others are more complex, refusing (as families themselves do) to fit neatly under any one characterization. My poems value the complexity of every family relationship and respect those who honor and uphold it. I hope you find something that resonates with you here. May the poems evoke feelings (delightful and occasionally less so) that we all associate with being part of a family.
FINDING THE POEM YOU WANT: As you scroll through this section, simply read each snippet sample (usually the first four lines) to get a feel for the poem. When you find something you like, click “CONTINUE READING” to view the entire poem.
(My work may be used free for non-commercial purposes only. Please request permission by email and include full copyright information, legibly printed, on every copy made. For internet use, a link back to the poem on this website is required.)
Sisters Weekend
image by Priscilla Du Preez
It started with Moonlight
and Valentino and candles,
with life rushing by
us, eroding our
edges too fast.
Winding Down: A Window Pane on Parting
©2018 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Mosoianu Bogdan on Unsplash
We sit.
She, burgundy chair.
Me, blue leather sofa.
Like so many times
before, days of yore.
She used to watch me,
claim me, eyes love-lit.
I’d blush. You’re staring, Mom.
But I put up with it.
A Most Creative Calling
©2017 Susan Noyes Anderson
Motherhood
I grew up in a simpler time,
when roles were more defined.
Perhaps I should have felt constrained.
In truth, I did not mind.
Taking Back the Knack
©2017 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash
I think I may have lost the knack
that surely was my stock in trade
in days gone by. The years have made
me less adept. I’ve gone off track.
The Crybaby
©2015 Susan Noyes Anderson
Oh how loudly, oh how clearly
we can hear you blow your top.
Baby boy, we love you dearly,
but this screaming has to stop!
Lovenotes
©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Carly Mackler on Unsplash
Each whiff of Mama’s bread
rose in his heart
infused his head
with wafting warmth
and scented joy.
He was a happy boy.
To Love a Child
©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson
To love a child is bliss complete,
her feisty ways, his squishy feet,
his face alight, her brown eyes dancing,
a wave goodbye while backward glancing.