Happy Mother's Day!

Once upon a time, motherhood inspired me to start writing Mother's Day poetry. (Shocking, I know!) But, my muse has been on vacation much longer than I had planned, so, (please accept my apologies, Mom,) I have nothing new this year. Instead, I'll share two of her favorites, written for Mother's Days past....

In My Mother's Garden

In my Mother’s garden I watched many things grow,

How she made it happen, I never thought I’d know.

But as I watched her work, I learned to tend the plants,

Sometimes even helping, until distracted by some marching ants.

In my Mother’s garden it seemed everything came alive,

The world will never be as green as it was when I was five!

A new creature would be revealed with every stone unturned,

Each with a new (and sometimes painful!) lesson to be learned.

In my Mother’s garden we would laugh out loud and sing,

And take joy together in what the day had to bring.

Endless hours she and I toiled and played away,

It is amazing how much about the world can be discovered in one day!

In my Mother’s garden I always felt safe, loved and free,

Just me, myself, and that’s how she designed it to be.

All the while I never realized what was plain in sight to see,

The most important part of Mother's growing garden, to her, was me.

Now As I Tend My Garden

Now as I tend my garden, my children watch it grow,

And here, too, you’ll help me teach them everything I know.

Every day I am still amazed by how peaceful and serene

Life can seem when I am tending to something green.

Now as I tend my garden, not yet quite as green as yours

My own little ones enjoy helping Mama with her chores.

The best part is when we over-water, creating a little flood,

Then it’s time to laugh and play in our backyard river of mud.

Now as I tend my garden, I see their curiosity unfold,

I answer questions I once asked, with answers I was told,

Then off they go, with thousands of discoveries to make,

And off I go, back to work with my clippers and a rake.

Now as I tend my garden, they frolic safe, loved and free,

And I've come to realize what it took for you, doing so for me,

Patience, love, and a lot of work, but then we

Already knew how important a Mother's Garden will always be.

Thank you, Mom, for always encouraging me to go after my dreams, even the crazy ones, like writing books. I love you, more than a thousand poems could say....    

Wishing a very Happy Mother's Day to all :) I hope you have a beautiful day, filled with love!

Roari