Ave Maria

“Ave Maria” takes its name from the Latin words for “Hail Mary,” a prominent prayer in the Christian belief system that addresses Mary, mother of Jesus. It is used to pray for intercession and to honor the great mother figure of the Bible. In practices of the Catholic church, it is often set to music. The title is effectively juxtaposed against the casual, secular quality of the poem that follows; it sets up an expectation for the reader that is immediately turned on its head. However, the title goes deeper than being a simple sleight of hand—it pays reverence to the influence mothers have in the lives of their children, and it represents the deep religious devotion the speaker has to the cinematic art, illustrating how going to the movies can be akin to a spiritual practice.

The poem begins in the first person with a desperate petition to mothers across the country: “let your kids go to the movies!” (Line 2). The separated opening line breaks immediately give the poem a question-and-answer format, which continues as the speaker makes their case. In the first several lines, the speaker takes different approaches to convincing the mothers of their argument. The first offers them a rare chance at freedom: “get them out of the house so they won’t know what you’re up to” (Line 3). This line brings to mind the tired and unfulfilled mother given a moment to live a life unentangled with motherhood; however, there is also an element of hypocrisy here as the mothers engage in the sort of “darker joys” (Line 30) that they’re so afraid of exposing their children to. Here the speaker reminds them that these desires are a normal part of growing up.

The speaker moves onto their next argument: “it’s true that fresh air is good for the body / but what about the soul” (Lines 4-5). The speaker acknowledges the effort that goes into raising the children but implores the mothers to think beyond the practical and to the spiritual—harkening back to the title “Ave Maria.” Yes, the mothers are doing a good job, but it isn’t enough. Finally, the speaker hits them with their third argument, the one that forms the spine of the poem: the mothers will, one inevitable day, turn into elders who need the support of their grown children. Without allowing them the freedom to explore sexuality and self-discovery, the children will no longer be there when the mothers need them most. With such a seemingly incongruous choice, their relationship is irreparably ruptured, and the consequences of that rupture will be felt for a long time.

The poem moves into an examination of the sorts of sexual awakenings that happen within a darkened cinema: “their first sexual experience / which only cost you a quarter” (Lines 13-14). The speaker argues that allowing them this freedom will keep drama and discord from the family, maintaining a peaceful family dynamic and teaching the children important lessons about the world. Even if those lessons don’t come on that particular night in that particular way, they will still have an enjoyable experience they will remember for a lifetime. The alternative is that the children remain locked away in stagnation building grudges against their mothers that will last that same lifetime instead. Here we see how by finding a healthy balance between freedom and constraint, the mothers can ensure a healthy relationship with their children that benefits them both in myriad ways.

The poem closes on a dark note, using bleak imagery to drive their petition home. The family the mothers fought so hard for has become fractured, and worse, the children the mothers tried so hard to protect never learned how to live. The final lines, “seeing / movies you wouldn’t let them see when they were young” (Lines 35-36) end on a powerful and circular idea. The speaker shows us how the very freedom the mothers thought they had to protect their children against is the same freedom lost that led to their sense of deprivation and ingratitude. The poem thus becomes a cautionary tale against the hidden evil of trying to do the right thing while stripping children of the chance to truly live.