Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief by Joy Harjo

Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief

$17.99
Sale price  $17.99 Regular price 
Skip to product information
Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief by Joy Harjo

Ten Speed Press

Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief

$17.99
Sale price  $17.99 Regular price 
In stock
A beautifully illustrated edition of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's poem "Washing My Mother's Body," which offers a way through grief when the loss appears unbearable.

As I wash my mother's face, I tell her
how beautiful she is, how brave, how her beauty and bravery
live on in her grandchildren. Her face is relaxed, peaceful.
Her earth memory body has not left yet,
but when I see her the next day, embalmed and in the casket
in the funeral home, it will be gone.
Where does it go?

Through lyrical prose and evocative watercolor illustrations by award-winning Muscogee artist Dana Tiger, Washing My Mother's Body explores the complexity of a daughter's grief as she reflects on the joys and sorrows of her mother's life. She lays her mother to rest in the landscape of her memory, honoring the hands that raised her, the body that protected her, and the legs that carried her mother through adversity.

Moving, comforting, and deeply emotional, Washing My Mother's Body is a tender look at mother-daughter relationships, the complexity of grieving the loss of a parent, and the enduring love of those left behind.
Book Details
Publisher:
Ten Speed Press
ISBN:
9781984861368
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
80
Authors:
Joy Harjo
Published Date:
2025-04-01
Language:
English
Shipping

Ships directly to you from our US distribution partner. US delivery only.

Usually ships within 1–2 days.

Estimated total time for this book on its own:

  • Economy 4–10 days (usually about a week)
  • Expedited 3–7 days
  • Priority 2–6 days

Orders with more than one book may arrive in separate deliveries. Pre-orders always ship separately once the book is released.

Returns

We offer a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return. To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it: new, unworn or unused, and in its original packaging. See details on our Return & Refund policy.

About Joy Harjo

The 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, Joy Harjo served from 2019 to 2022 as the first Native American to hold the position. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she is a poet and musician and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her collections include She Had Some Horses (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1983) and An American Sunrise (W.W. Norton, 2019). She received the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award in 2015 and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 2017.

If this information requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com.

You may also like

If any information on The Poetry Shop contains an error that requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com