Mothers' Day 2013

So, this year, Mothers' Day got me writing for S. It's a bit long, but I hope it's a quick read. Happy Mothers' Day to all the wonderful moms out there!

To My Daughter

An army lives in me

A host of women

I have been

A toddler stops in wonder

As a white horse gallops

Through her woods

A dressed-up bride

Beams satisfaction

As the camera clicks

Better late than never

A leggy girl masters

School and her bike

A bookworm spends recess

Jacketless, oblivious to all

A 700-page book on her lap

And passes night drives

Reading by streetlights or

Watching the following moon

A granddaughter sits demure

In a pastel Izod dress

Seen and seldom heard

A wanna-be tomboy rides

Her banana seated bike

Cross country

And belly crawls after

Her brother down ditches

Playing soldier

A mama-to-be names

And nurtures bears, gators

Dogs and guinea pigs

And sometimes siblings

Earning a rep—and cash—

As a go-to sitter

A good girl, a geek

Stumbles her way

Through high school

As gracefully as

An AT-AT on logs

Minus the ewoks

A tender hearted

Girl faces agony

Digs in, holds tight

A small town girl

Gets glimpses of

A bigger, brighter world

A young woman feels

Her power in black boots,

Flannel and cut off jeans

Or builds costumes

In a basement, singing

In crop top and hippie skirt

Or battles classroom frat boys

Over interpretations as

Dust motes float in sun

A battered dreamer

Finds a home in joy

Living in true love

A graduate borrows money

Loads a truck and leaps

To a new town, a new life

A starving artist shares

Hugs, high art, cheap pizza

And drama with friends

A fiancée doubts

--herself, not him—

Reaching for what’s right

Two better halves

Plunge in—new town

New life again

A wife learns equality

In gracious giving and

Receiving

One of a couple

She embraces the town

Music, friends, fun

A defeated warrior

Tackles martial arts

Learns quiet courage

A hopeful mother’s heart

Germinates, longing

For something bigger

Alone, a new mother

In another new town

Endures, survives

A less-new mother

Revels in joy, in

Sunlight and soap bubbles

A growing mother

Finds her sea legs

Lifts her head, looks around

An athlete comes

Into her own

Tackling obstacles

An organizer

Leaps tall buildings,

Takes a breather

A poet sniffs the air

Yawns, stretches and

Looks around

There are other women, too

Broken women, strong women

Women huddled in the dark

Saying, “How can I?”

But they did, they do

And so I am here

And you are here

They chose and we are

Beautiful

All these women

And hundreds more

Walk with me every day

I hear their voices

Know their minds

Borrow their talents

And every day

I add a sister

To their order

I love the women

I have been since

Your birth, my daughter

I love you

And so I say,

My daughter

Be beautiful women

Strong, fearless, weird

Loving, open, and brave

Be yourself in all

Your infinite capacity

And wonder

The women you are

Will carry you

And lift you up

Grant you wisdom,

Ease your sorrows

And elevate your joys

Be loving women,

My daughter, be women

Who love you