The Girl Beneath the Moon: Poems on Healing, Motherhood, Love, Loss, and Becoming by Courtney Bailey

This was such a beautiful collection of poetry from the ages and stages of life we grow through. Some stand out poems of this collection to me were: Little Bones Carry Big Things, the way life can be heavier yet invisible to others around a child, clueless to the weight the little one carries. Hyperaware, was a poem about how you learn young to read a room from looks and tone instead bracing yourself, instead of feeling safe. The Loop, was a great poem and to me, makes me think of my anxious mind spiralling into thoughts Too Much and Never Enough, was again, a really relatable poem about how different people have different views of you depending on your relationship with that person. The whole section of poems about grief was so basic on the surface of the discussion but that's the beauty of the discussion because grief even talked about the basic of the person being gone, opens up a whole new depth, that every layer, every memory held or never made, because time passed like they did, taking a new shape of loss and especially the poem December, to me the month containing Christmas is one to survive because it's a sad reminder of all missing and not all to love when so many we loved have gone, it is just cold and empty grief. Eight Years Later, wow what a beautiful poem, an almost poetic story telling of our author's life in discovering love and growing up entwined. Near the end of the collection a poem simply titled, To My Husband, about the depth of love built over years of trust and choosing each other. Strawberry and Cherry, were literally sweet little poems to each little daughter and their unique way of providing love. Each section of poems is like a reflection on parts of life we live through and how we feel older, wiser, looking back on how we've grown from going through the situations faced it was a truly beautiful well structured poetry book and a delight to read.