For Eloise Briscoe, raising two daughters hasn’t been about splashy gestures, but more “the simple things” — an approach gleaned from the long line of women in her family. As the unofficial family historian, Eloise is a diligent keeper of memories, and today she challenges poet J. Joseph Kane to honor all of these women — Emma, Nana, Margaret, Eloise, Shannon, and Maura — with a poetic gift that she intends to share with her aging 92-year-old mother.

As a bonus, we also hear a story-turned-into-poetry from the youngest Briscoe generation, as Eloise’s daughter also takes part with Nashville poet Alicia Marie Brandewie.

Credits: This episode of Versify is hosted by Joshua Moore, a poet with The Porch, Nashville’s nonprofit literary center. The episode was written, edited, produced, and mastered by WPLN’s Tony Gonzalez, with additional editing by Mack Linebaugh and Anita Bugg.

The music is by Rest You Sleeping Giant, found through the Free Music Archive, and the original composition paired with the poem is by Alicia Enstrom.