Poetry Friday : Mom
Happy Mother’s Day!
Last year for Mother’s Day, I wrote of my mother — a five-minute stream-of-consciousness piece that became the draft of a poem. This week, I revised those lines, and with them I honor the memory of my mother, gentle and strong.
Mom.
How do I write
in five minutes about you?
You who gave me life,
Kissed away my boo-boos,
Taught me right from wrong,
Wrapped me in unconditional love.
You led me early to your Lord,
Taught me how to pray, how to believe,
Held my hand when my heart was broken,
Stood in faith when all seemed impossible.
You showed me how to celebrate,
Smell the flowers, sing with songbirds,
Speak truth, spread kindness, and
Embrace sunsets knowing sunrises always follow.
Like you, I now notice changing colors and
geese flying south, first snows and Christmas
lights, yellow forsythia, returning robins, pink
tulips, dragonflies, and night songs of summer.
Twenty-four Mother’s Days have come and gone
And still I miss you.
I love you, Mom.
© 2018 Alice Nine All rights reserved.
My mother’s bluebird music box
Each year, when I think we’ve had enough snow and ice, when I think it’s time for spring, I bring out my mother’s porcelain bluebird music box, wind it up a few times, and celebrate in anticipation of the coming of another spring that will slip into summer. And then when nights turn chilly again, I put the bluebird away to await the next spring.
porcelain bluebird music box by Gorham
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Celebrate this Week : Mothers Close to Me
This week I celebrate the mothers in my family, beginning with my mother, Helen. Then my grandmothers, Amelia and Alice. I celebrate their memory – thankful they forged the pathway of faith before me.
my mother — a beautiful bride
Moving forward a generation to my daughter, Christy, and my daughters-in-law, Katrina and Jacky, I celebrate their lives – thankful that they too walk this pathway of faith with their children.
These are noble women. Women of wisdom, givers of faithful instruction, caring for their households. Women whose children arise and call them blessed. These are Proverbs 31 women.
Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup is hosting the week’s Round-Up.
#PoetryFriday
Poetry Friday Schedule
January – June 2018
Celebrate this Week with Ruth Ayres, Thank you, Ruth! #Celebratelu.
What a beautiful poem…and look! another bluebird!!
Thank you, Mary Lee.
What a beautiful tribute to your mother. How wonderful that your relationship with her still enriches your world — “You showed me how to celebrate,
Smell the flowers, sing with songbirds”
Thanks for also sharing the story of her bluebird music box and your traditional winding of it. What a lovely way to welcome spring.
Thank you, Molly, for noticing. I am consciously aware of the signs of each seasonal change because she loved them so much and talked about them. She made her home with Carl and me the last 16 years of her life… so we were pretty close.
My mother’s favorite flower was the lily of the valley and May always brings them as reminders. Happy Mother’s Day to you, Alice!
Oh, Diane, my mother loved the lily of the valley, too.
Such lovely memories, Alice. I am blessed to have my mother still in my life, a fact I try not to take for granted in her 82nd year. My best to you!
Yes, your are blessed, Christie. Give her a hug from me. 🙂
I love how your poem captures the things that you notice because of your mother. Our mothers are such a part of us it’s almost scary. I watch as my daughters grow up and wonder what part of them am I. Happy Mother’s Day to you. Enjoy your family!
It is pretty awesome to see bits of yourself in others… daughters, granddaughters. Happy Mother’s Day to you also.
Beautiful. We never forget. It’s been 47 mother’s days for me.
Memories are good, even after many years.
What a lovely tribute to your mother, Alice. Wherever she is, I bet she’s proud of her poet daughter.
Thank you, Michelle. She always made me feel special.
Thank you for honoring your mother so beautifully. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Thank you for reading, Ruth.
Alice, that is a stellar tribute to your mother. I love the bluebird music box. I have things that remind me of my mom too. I miss her a lot. Twenty-four Mother’s Days….whoah. That’s so many. I’m rounding the corner on nine. It feels like too many.
Time is a funny thing when it comes to remembering… seems so long and yet it seems like yesterday.
What a beautiful poem to remember and honor your mother. She sounds like an amazing woman.
Thank you, Kay. Amazing is a good word to describe my mother.
Heartfelt mother’s day poem to your mom Alice. I too like the bluebird ritual you partake in each spring and fall, what a lovely way to remember her and keep her in your thoughts. Happy Mother’s Day!
Thank you, Michelle.
Beautiful poem, Alice — so touching and heartfelt! And I love your bluebird music box (what a precious keepsake!) — we’re both channeling bluebirds this week. This will be my 4th Mother’s Day without my mom, and like you, I miss her every day. It doesn’t seem to get easier as time goes on.
Thank you, Jama. Bluebirds are special; they say they are birds of happiness.
I love that the bluebirds are showing up everywhere, Alice. Your music box tradition is lovely. And your poem about your mom, your love of all the mothers in your life. We are fortunate to have them all. Happy Mother’s Day to you!
Yes, we are fortunate. Happy Mother’s Day to you too, Linda.
I love that you started a poem one year and revised it the next. What a lovely tradition to celebrate spring with your mother’s music box!
Thank you for reading, JoAnn. Music boxes are such fun and my mom had a number of them that I inherited.
It sounds like your mother taught you to notice all the important things, Alice, and really appreciate the moment, as well as honoring and loving the generations past, present, and future.
Thank you for coming by, Tabatha. Yes, she loved life.
Beautiful, Alice. This is only my 2nd mother’s day without my mom, and it’s still a very sad day. I love your poem and tribute to her. What a wonderful mother she clearly was. Blessings to you this Mother’s Day weekend!
Thank you Dani, and blessings to you too.