A Poem for Mothers

by Brendan Martin

She tirelessly waits, and eases your growing pains
She watches you playing, and changes your clothes;
She wipes up your mess, and washes your dishes,
She dreams of her wishes, this life that she chose.

She makes sure you sleep well, she reads bedtime stories,
She sings you some songs that she knew as a child;
She hears all your tantrums; she celebrates your glories,
She has everlasting memories of the first time you smiled.

She never leaves you hungry, or alone in the darkness,
She helps keep you safe; she allows you your will;
She admires you changing, a developing person,
She loves you, and you know that she loves you still.

She scrimped for your birthdays; she welcomes your friends;
She listens as you moan about what she has done;
She picks herself up, after you have displeased her,
She laughs and she cries, she plays, she has fun.

She weeps at your sadness, though you never see it;
She cries in the night, but you never see tears;
She smiles when she sees you, she’s happy you made it;
She’s lived for these moments all through the years.

She’s one of a kind, in a world full of people
She’s unique in her make up; her own sound of laughter;
She knows when she’s gone; she’ll not be forgotten,
She’ll wait for the others who will be along after.

She will be missed from many a table;
She will be missed from her favourite chair;
She will cause sorrow, and unintentional sadness,
To all of her family, and to those in her care.

She won’t regret leaving, but she’ll be sad it’s so soon;
She’ll have wonderful memories she can no longer share;
She’ll also have sad ones, but they will be banished,
Lost in a world, where she needs only a prayer.

She will always be there, in your heart and your soul;
She will always show up when there is never another;
She will support you, in death as in life;
For nothing, and no one, replaces a mother.