ODE TO MOTHERS

The voices call from every place,

come away from there they say,

but don’t they know that I yearn too,

from the cradle where I lay.

My life you gave to me,

both past and that ahead.

I need to know you love me more

than other things instead.

I owe you all I am,

or all that I can be.

For though it’s hard to walk this path,

it can lead to eternity.

Your name I’ll praise forevermore,

your face and touch I’ll ever adore,

for me there is no other,

I’ll always love you, Mother.

May 1981