Saturday, November 26, 2011

Mother in the Morning

Was recently re-reading Mother in the Morning. The impact this little poem had always startles me, when I really think about it. It was my first piece accepted for publication (Bim, May '09) and was a contender for Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul. I love it so dearly because it reminds me of those early days of writing, the sense of discovery, that tremulous feeling of being just on the edge of something. Thought I'd share it here, along with a drawing.

Much love.
Dani




Mother in the Morning


Mother sips tea in her garden on mornings,
abandoning the kitchen that echoes with breakfast,
lunch kits, laces untied, and the dripping faucet.
She sits on a cracked footstool in complete silence
as the heat from the teacup rises up
whispering warm, comforting secrets
only she can understand.

There are sharp things in the ground
and her hands are soft
yet she never wears gloves.
She is not afraid of the damp, dark earth
with its shards of buried glass and crawling creatures.
She has planted hope with her own hands,
seen it grow tall, and bright with butterflies.

When my mother’s hands are in the dew- damp dirt
and she is fragile in the quiet morning light
I can see the shapes of sharp things buried in her.
I realize how the fluorescent kitchen light dims her,
hides that secret flower she is growing
That can only be seen in morning light,
and blooms only when she does.





1 comment: