Mother and Son is a series of episodic poems that tell the story of a working class mother who's left to raise her son alone in a poor Boston neighborhood. From the time she leaves Nova Scotia in 1932, through the war years and beyond, a series of events cause an unspoken separation between her and her son. Published by Turning Plow Press, Mother and Son chronicles the breaches beyond their control that prevent them from closing the empty space between them.

 

 

Praise for Mother and Son:

 

In poems that balance the lyrical with the narrative, Austin explores the inner life of a proud and reticent woman. This is a work of deep sympathy and real human feeling, painting a picture of a love that is as big and real as it is imperfect. Work, love, anger, and prayer are all made equally palpable in Austin's observant and lively verse. These poems are likely to remind you of someone whom you have loved and fought, someone you have cursed and blessed, and forgiven. There is no baloney here: Mother and Son is real art because it is the real stuff of human life.

—Benjamin Meyers, Oklahoma Poet Laureate, author of The Family Book of Martyrs

 

Paul Austin, theater director, actor, author, and poet has created a poetic drama that advances as a sequence with lyrical impact. The narrative is more than implicit throughout the linked lyrics. It moves in time from 1932 to 1975, a lifetime that feels like a lived life of mother and son. This is a drama that hurts – for "the kid" and equally for the mom – yet the hurt is assuaged by the empathy (so muted) provided by this poet-dramatist. 

—Barry Wallenstein, author of It's About Time, New York Quarterly Books