Book excerpt: I never got tired of telling my mother how much I loved her. This book of poems attempts to show the intense love of a daughter for her mother. I hope to give the reader words he or she might feel belongs to them to describe their love for their own mother. The greatest aim of this book is as a memorial to a unique, wonderful woman. My mother had moved to San Francisco in the 1950s when she was in her twenties. She wanted art, music, and theater. When these poems were written, I wasn’t consciously trying to be a great poet. I just wanted to make my mother smile.