I Recall A Mother’s Day

I recall a Mother’s Day,
Seems ages past though scarcely ten,
When silence echoed in the quiet nursery,
Void of any cry or call for Mama.
And any infant I should see, was not my own,
Who recently had come and quickly gone.

The long-stemmed rose–the gift,
A token of Motherhood
Was mockery to my being
Who aspired to the grandest height of all–Mother.

But lo, the years produced the child my heart desired.
And now I see within the rosebush
The new-formed dewy buds,
And overlook the thorn
That seemed so sharp and painful
On other days like this.

With house and arms and thoughts no longer empty,
There is a deluge of the once longed for dependent cries of “Mama!”

And now the garden rose I see as me,
With room to grow and flourish,
And send its roots deep into the soil
To stand amid the worldly blasts,
And turn toward the sun
To drink the heaven-sent strength
To make me equal to the title–Mama.

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What Is Success?

If my children can say, at the end of the day,
“I’m happy, I feel good about me.”
If as the sun disappears in the western sky,
I can lay aside tasks for a lullaby.
If during the midst of a busy day,
I stop for some nonsense, childlike play,
I have learned that the tasks of the family are best,
I will have found what I call success.

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The Butterfly

the butterfly

Sometimes our comfort zones lead us into stagnancy. I find that when I feel that way, I’m usually being a bit selfish….self-absorbed, self-conscious, or maybe I feel some self-pity. I have never been a very sociable person. That’s something I’ve had to work at. I’d make a good hermit, a classic loner. But I also know that doesn’t bring the kind of happiness or joy that I know is possible to feel on a more consistent basis. Other people really do matter. Service is a never-failing balm for the selfish and sad soul.

I also penned these words: “Sometimes when I feel bad, and make others feels sad, I’m searching. but see only me. But if I look OUTWARD, peace comes to me inward, and sunshine is all around me.” A little bit of change can do mighty things. I’ve always liked pieces of Gordon Lightfoot’s song–Cobwebs and Dust: “Cobwebs and dust…I hate to leave you, but leave you I must….tear down the walls-gather your treasure and scatter it all….lower the drawbridge, the hour is late.”

Just remember: if there were no change, there would be no butterflies! ..and, Hey, talk to me. Tell me how you feel.

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