It’s been almost ten years since my mother died. I still think of her often, so I decided to write a poem about her.
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My Mother’s Love
I wish you could know my mother’s love
Her smile and warm embrace
The way she talked
The way she cared
Married at 17, moved from SC to CT
With Dad, 31, fresh back from war
It must have been a shock
Rural South to suburbs North
Starting a family and new life
She tithed 10 percent, even when money was scarce
She taught Sunday school, volunteered at the hospital, drove the elderly, taught adults to read; and worked full time
I learned from her charity and good cheer, and hard work
The more I see of the world
I realize how lucky I was
To have my mother’s love
I gave her many headaches
The kid who wouldn’t shut up
Or sit still in church
The kid who drank and smoked
And stopped going to church
But my mom never stopped loving me
Despite my many failings
She convinced me to go to college
When I wanted to buy a Harley and cruise West
In her last year, as dementia curbed her mind
Clarity came in flashes of decades past
Mom told me of a big regret I’d never heard
About her first-born, born dead in hospital
When Mom awoke, the doctor asked if she wanted to see the dead baby
Inconsolable with grief, she said no
I’ve always regretted that, said Mom
I should have held my baby, loved that baby
I wasn’t thinking right
I should have held him
But I think of and love that baby still
I know you do Mom
Because I know your love
And how you raised the four that lived
I am most blessed by it
I love you Mom
Waipahu Bob 