Happy Birthday , Mom in Heaven

Rose Mary

What will I miss most about life
when furnace fire darkens down
behind my lidded eyes?

Will I miss most
those rose water dawns of spring,
bright fresh mid-summer mornings,
late lazy autumnal afternoons?

Or blazing rouge sunsets
with evenings of bejeweled
purple sky and cold weather warmth
of long dark winter nights?

What will I miss most about life?
The music or the musician
the actor or the play
the painting or the artist
the sculptor or the clay?

A scent of dew after rain,
touch of your hand upon my neck
bread and wine of the host?

Oh!

I know well
what I will miss most.
When all else is done.

That would be you, mommy
And dreams.

Happy Mother's Day

For Rose

I want to write a poem

About the women in my life

I want to write a song

About their power

And their light

I want to write about

How they roll up their sleeves

And go to work

When their men

Fail them

I want to write about 

How they never give up

How they make me laugh

When I am sad

How they comfort me

The moment I hear thunder

I want to write about how

They feed me when I hunger

How they nurse me when I am ill

How they calm me when I am enraged

How they teach me not to kill

I want to write about

How they taught me to love

The kind dumb animals of this world

How to bear and rise above

With the definition of the word “friendship”

I want to write about how

They can be 12 places at once

Making sure everyone has what they need

I want to write about how they walk in

When everyone else leaves

I want to write about the women

Who strap iron bars to their backs

And carry them up 6 flights of stairs

Just to ward off the fear attack

I want to write about the women

Who give birth

Not just to babies

But to the very earth

I want to write about

That special woman who gave me life

I want to write about all the women

Who've helped me make it through the night

I want to write about these women 

My mothers, my lovers, my sisters and my wife

But every time I try 

Their courage and their beauty and their strength

Humbles me

To silence