5.07.2016

Mother's Day 2016

I only celebrated Mother's Day three times as a mother before my own mom passed away. This is my second without her. The missing persists daily, but feels even heavier on weekends like this. Here is a poem from this year's NaPoWriMo collection: The Equilibrium of Lost Change. It's inspired by the poem "Before" by Ada Limón about "the hazardous bliss before you know what you would miss." Enjoy... 


Before

by Ada Limón

No shoes and a glossy

red helmet, I rode

on the back of my dad’s

Harley at seven years old.

Before the divorce.

Before the new apartment.

Before the new marriage.

Before the apple tree.

Before the ceramics in the garbage.

Before the dog’s chain.

Before the koi were all eaten

by the crane. Before the road

between us, there was the road

beneath us, and I was just

big enough not to let go:

Henno Road, creek just below,

rough wind, chicken legs,

and I never knew survival

was like that. If you live,

you look back and beg

for it again, the hazardous

bliss before you know

what you would miss.


and here is my response... 

Before

On my last night in your house
we argued about your happiness.
When you came to visit, I was
annoyed by your exhaustion

before I knew I was pregnant
before your surgery
before I came to understand a hospital bed
and how doctor’s rounds worked and final goodbyes.
before decisions were made 
and I learned about death
there was the mundane
and annoying:
the conflict that only matters

with the ones we love.

Previous Mother's Day posts: