Womb Worlds

In "Womb Worlds," Lisa Molina invites the reader into her most intimate world where the darkness of disease collides with the tenderness of a mother's love, as she grapples with the most terrifying corners of motherhood. The speaker in these poems is a mother with a young son going through cancer treatment at ages three, eleven, and thirteen; ultimately requiring an umbilical cord blood transplant from an unknown donor as a final effort to save his life. From her son's initial diagnosis at age three, to his transplant ten years later, she writes both of specific events that occurred in exacting detail, as well as her own interior world of terror, gratitude, and growth as a woman throughout the experience. Never dwelling on what is lost, the poems in this collection focus on the light and learning that can be gained through suffering. These poems, written mostly in a prose/free verse style will make you feel every emotion, as you journey with Molina, her son, and her family throughout years of the roller coaster ride of pediatric cancer treatments. The book includes life-affirming full color abstract drawings and a beautiful watercolor to enhance Molina's words.