Rachel Richardson, an acclaimed poet and wildland firefighter, recently released her poetry collection titled "Smother". The book intricately weaves together the themes of motherhood and smoke, using the title to simultaneously capture and critique societal expectations surrounding motherhood. Richardson deliberately embraces a confrontational tone to subvert the norm of poetic beauty. She illustrates her creative process, focusing on the metaphor of smoke as a representation of the unattainable ideals imposed on mothers, leading her to express her frustrations through poetry that is both gritty and relatable.
The book is about smoke and motherhood primarily as its two subjects. Once I realized smother is a portmanteau of the two subjects, it seemed inevitable as a title.
Similarly, smoke can be everywhere but invisible; this dangerous thing that's in our midst, and you can't really get away from it - like you can't get away from the patriarchy.
People often assume poetry books will be beautiful, full of lament or awe, and this book intends to be a little more gritty and in the real world.
There's going to be a lot of the word 'mother' in this book. I'm using the title to gesture in immediate defiance of that idea.
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