Word to Mother A poetry collection by Bennie Herron 2018

In Bennie Herron’s word to the mother the reader is introduced to a world full of rhythm-memories and throwbacks. Thick with the reminiscence of childhood wonder and a deep yearning to honor both the living and the dead, the poems found here mark a life steeped in struggle and a desire to make whole the pieces that shape our lives. In each of Herron’s poems there is always music. But the music found here is not just a soundtrack for memories, but a key towards greater understanding, a way to both unlock and forge anew. In a refreshing turn from the often self-involved and saturated selfishness that defines so many in America, the poems here, though deeply personal, always honor an ever-present past. Herron’s “self” is only understood by way of inter-generational recognition and an ancestral antecedent that is always at work to make sense of the present self. Even in the toughest moments, Herron recognizes, without judgement, the sacrifices of a mother and the imperfect love that makes a family.