Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Mother's Song



Today's photo is just a sample ... a sip, if you will ... of the blossoms on the dogwood tree which graces the front lawn of Brimm Manor.


It seems to outdo itself each year ... and I take great comfort in its abundance ... its splendor ... the quiet beauty that it brings to those who pause to consider it.


But the poem ... I think I sometimes get in the way of the poem by talking too much about it, instead of letting it speak for itself.


It's a bad habit, I know, and I'm trying to break it.


Still, there are times when I feel that just a few more words are needed ... to set the stage for the poem ... to give it a bit more depth.


Let me just say that I was thinking about this poem when I woke up this morning.


As some of you know, I was reared by my grandparents. I learned early, I think, the meaning within the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."


There was a certain longing, a searching for explanations where there were none. I never knew, precisely, why I grew up with neither of my parents.


I did have my grandparents at my side, though, guiding me, nudging me on, hoping I would turn out OK.


Through it all I tried to search out and cling to earliest memories ... of both my parents ... and I have some which have helped to sustain me through all these years.


Today's poem ... a Mother's Day poem, if you will ... deals with one of those early memories.


The poem:


MOTHER'S SONG


It was so long ago,
perhaps in a dream,
or certainly before I knew
the meanings of words,
but I felt the music
of her fine soprano voice
caressing, soothing me,
and how I wish I could
sing that same gentle
song back to her now,
saying softly, sweetly,
simply, I love you.
© 2000
(originally published in PKA's Advocate)

Today's word: soothing

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