Kaylin Weir Still the Eldest Daughter

Still the Eldest Daughter by Kaylin Weir is a collection of poems that follows a high-achieving woman who grows up believing she will only belong if she's useful, productive, or impressive. Through scenes of childhood, corporate hustle, marriage, therapy, motherhood, friendship, and the emotional labor of caregiving, this collection traces the evolution of the "eldest daughter:" the hyper-responsible girl who becomes the woman holding everything together while quietly unraveling underneath it all. Still the Eldest Daughter explores the messier process of calming a nervous system shaped by perfectionism, loosening the grip of over-functioning, and learning to build a life you no longer need to escape from. For eldest daughters (by birth order or experience), mothers, caregivers, helpers, over thinkers, and "good girls" trying to remember who they are beneath performance, productivity, and praise.