The Show Must Go On

A memoir in poems, Mary Warren Foulk's The Show Must Go On centers on the topics of sibling loss and queer identity, including queer parenting. It pays tribute to the author's older brother, Stephen, who died quite tragically at age forty. He was gay, though he remained closeted. In these poems, Foulk navigates his loss and legacy, along with other losses; she attempts to continue their intimate dialogue and connection (an exploration of gay sibling language); and she celebrates his influence and lessons through her own coming out process, and through the redemption and love (queer joy!) she has found in her wife, their children, the community they have created. Several poems address Foulk's pathway(s) to parenthood, including familial/societal reactions, those affirming, those discriminatory, the range and over time. She explores what it means to be a motherless mother, how a family can celebrate the empty seats at the table, the traditions inherited.