"Einstein’s Mother" by Tracy K. Smith

Was he mute a while, / or all tears.

Support Poem-a-Day February 18, 2020   Einstein's Mother Tracy K. Smith Was he mute a while, or all tears. Did he raise his hands to his ears so he could scream scream scream. Did he eat only with his fists. Did he eat as if something inside of him would never be fed. Did he arch his back and hammer his heels into the floor the minute there was something he sought. And did you feel yourself caught there, wanting to let go, to run, to be called back to wherever your two tangled souls had sprung from. Did you ever feel as though something were rising up inside you. A fire-white ghost. Did you feel pity. And for whom. Copyright © 2020 by Tracy K. Smith. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on February 18, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets. "I've often heard that Albert Einstein struggled as a child. He came to language late, was unsuited to the classroom setting. And yet, in the narrative of Einstein's life, his genius is often tied to the difficult or confounding features of his child self. My poem bears witness to the occasional challenges of motherhood. Sometimes narratives like Einstein's offer me hope; more often, I fear they urge me toward a kind of magical, and potentially counterproductive, thinking." —Tracy K. Smith Tracy K. Smith's most recent collection is Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018). She teaches at Princeton University, and lives in Princeton, New Jersey.   Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018) "Hunger" by Ama Codjoe  read more "The mother finds her own wild, lost beginnings deep within the body of her daughter" by Mary Jean Chan read more Thanks to Roger Reeves, author of King Me (Copper Canyon Press, 2013), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read an extended Q&A about Reeves' curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Make a one-time contribution to help us publish Poem-a-Day.   Make your support go further by enrolling in monthly giving and joining the Mug Club! Copyright © 2020 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane St #901 New York, NY 10038 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.