In 'What I Learned from My Mother,' Julia Kasdorf reflects on the lessons of love, care, and compassion imparted by her mother, including the importance of offering comfort to those in grief. She describes the nurturing acts learned from her mother—such as preparing food for mourners and attending viewings to provide solace. The piece illustrates how personal and collective suffering can be transformed into acts of healing and support for others.

1. “What I Learned From My
Mother”
By: Julia Kasdorf
Cinepoem
By: Raquel Ortega

2. I learned from my
mother how to love
the living, to have
plenty of vases on
hand in case you have
to rush to the hospital
with peonies cut from
the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds.

3. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold
fruit salad for a
whole grieving
household, to cube
home-canned pears
and peaches, to slive
through maroon
grape skins and flick
out the sexual seeds
with knife point.

4. I learned to attend
viewing even if I
didn’t know the
deceased, to press
the moist hands of
the living, to look in
their eyes and off
sympathy, as though
I understood loss
even then.

5. I learned that
whatever we say
means nothing,
what anyone will
remember is that
we came.

6. I learned to believe I
had the power to
ease awful pains
materially like an
angel.
This is a medium shot of the angel
with a baby. I like how the baby
feels loved and cared for by the
angel. This image is showing how
one person can help many people.

7. Like a doctor, I
learned to create
from another’s
suffering my own
usefulness, and once
you know how to do
this, you can never
refuse.
This is a close up shot of a stethoscope.I
like the shadows and the blue and black
colors. This image shows the healing
and suffering of people.

8. To every house you
enter, you must
offer healing: a
chocolate cake you
baked yourself, the
blessing of your
voice, your chaste
touch.
This image is a medium shot taken at an
angle. In a way this shot is like inviting
us to come in the house. I like the
bricks at the bottom of the house. It
makes it unique in its own way.

9. Author Information
Julia Kasdorf was born
in Lewistown,
Pennsylvania. Her first
published poem was in
1977. I chose this poem
because it reminded my
of my mother. It made
me realize how hard
my mother works for
us.

10. Author Information
Julia Kasdorf was born
in Lewistown,
Pennsylvania. Her first
published poem was in
1977. I chose this poem
because it reminded my
of my mother. It made
me realize how hard
my mother works for
us.