“the thirty eighth year” by Lucille Clifton (1974)

Lucille Clifton was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and was the Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985. This free verse poem discusses the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. The speaker contemplates the death of her mother at the age of 44 and the speaker's own life as she approaches the same age. Dealing with feelings of disappointment and worry, the poem alternates between memories of the past with the mother and the speaker’s uncertain feelings about the future as the speaker reaches middle age.

“Silence” by Edgar Allan Poe (1837)

“Silence,” one of Poe’s most mysterious poems, is a variation of the Italian sonnet. Poe explores concepts that are familiar to his poetry, including loneliness, spirituality, and death, but he discusses silence in an ambiguous manner as both freeing and isolating.

“To My Mother” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)

Robert Louis Stevenson was a 19th-century Scottish novelist and poet who was well-known for his books Treasure Island and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He also wrote children’s poetry. This short children’s poem reminiscences about childhood and the child’s sweet relationship with the mother.