BOOK REVIEWS

One-Liners of Wisdom

Loryn Brantz’ “Poems of Parenting” is the sweet, subversive little thing moms never knew we needed

Poems of Parenting by Loryn Brantz; photo taken by the Author

[Note: Unpaid review.]

Poetry’s a hard sell these days — especially for busy moms.

Sure, we grab Jack Prelutsky by the beard when we read at bedtime to children. But usually, if we as women of a certain life stage are, once the kids are asleep, picking up something with actual pages — it’s Chelsea Handler’s latest essays or a fiction paperback, or maybe even Magnolia Journal or whatever other ‘aspirational’ mag that makes us hate ourselves.

Enter a poetry book for us: Poems of Parenting by Loryn Brantz.

I stumbled across this collection far from a bookstore. In fact, the first time I ever read a Loryn Brantz poem was not IRL; the algorithm made me do it. She interrupted my regular scroll of mommy memes and I fell right in love with her wryness and bite-sized absurdity.

It’s as if Brantz doesn’t know she’s being funny until after she says it out loud. Hers are subversive mini-poems, the one-liners and hilarious afterthoughts of your perfectly unfiltered mom friend.

Et voilà! We parents feel seen.