Read the poem ‘St Mary’s Cathedral, Mother’s Day’ by Jenny Doughty

This week’s poem, by Jenny Doughty, finds the speaker meditating on sacred architecture, mothers and continuance. I love how this poem invokes the rich language of cathedrals to invoke both structure and body, both what we have built and what has built us.

Originally from Britain, Doughty has lived in Maine since 2002. Her work has appeared inNaugatuck River Review, Four Way Review, Mezzo Cammin, and various anthologies, and was awarded a Bridport Prize commendation. Her books are “Sending Bette Davis to the Plumber” (2017) and “As for the Rose” (2026).

St Mary’s Cathedral, Mother’s Day

I’m here for beauty, Gothic curves, ribbed vaults,
arched triforium, and sapphire glass. Sun
pours through the clerestory, Bible tales stain
stone with coloured light; votives flutter
in dim chapels on circular frames,
roundels of flames echo the rose window.
I think about my mother and light a candle.
In this house of the mother of God
we illuminate the lives that led to ours.
Columns along the nave branch out to ribs
that hold up the soaring ceiling. In this
somber basilica I keep the flame
flickering, remember old stories.
As mother I’m clerestory, column and rib.

– By Jenny Doughty

Megan Grumbling is a poet and writer who lives in Portland. Deep Water: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “St. Mary’s Cathedral, Mother’s Day,” ©2026 by Jenny Doughty, was published in “As for the Rose” (Main Street Rag, 2026). It appears by permission of the author.

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