A three-part tribute to my Mom |
MY MOM'S LIFE Part One: ORPHANED "She went far away"" was all they would say She was only two so her Mother she didn't remember didn't remember a Mommy's touch tender She was six when her Daddy died. Nobody told her; they just sighed ... But she knew - read their cue. ............... Sent to a boarding school, where there's rule after rule after rule no love surrounded her heartache pounded She yearned for her sister the last time she kissed her ............... The girls' faces are bright It's end of term! What delight! They'll be with their parents tonight, tucked up in bed with hugs so tight. ............... She had no joy to show She had nowhere to go No money for train fare She remained just there ________________________________________________ Part two: MARRIED She chose a caring, self-taught, dairyman's son from a large family filled with love and fun As they started life together my mother changed forever She'd but one quest: to be like the rest Two children she bore Two souls she would never ignore With her husband beside Forward she'd stride ____________________________________________ Part three: DARLING MOM - a posthumous letter Darling Mom You shot up from young misery into the strongest tree You smiled at everyone like some happy sun In summer pink flowers picked with love put in vases In winter we'd huddle a family by the fireside Sundays our stoep polished red visitors popped in for a hot cup of tea and a good tĂȘte a tĂȘte I remember: Hens pecking in the garden and laying their eggs under cool bushes for us to collect We watched chicks as they hatched kittens being born I remember: The wonder of silkworms the bunny park and feeding the goats catching tadpoles in streams and sailing paper boats I remember: friends aplenty swinging in the garden playing in the sandpit and holidays by the sea And so our foundations were laid Our lives were orderly peaceful and free What more could one need? Mom, you cared Mom, you strived Your sad past thrust aside I miss you, Mom Thank you and Shalom |