My Mother Was A Poet

My mother was a poet

And a gentle soul

She looked after me in a way

That always made me feel whole

 

Mummy had some hard knocks

Still she didn't complain

She remained soft, loving, and non judgmental

And used her writing to express her joys and pain

 

I thought I would honor Mummy

By sharing one of her poems with you

I think she will smile down from heaven when she reads it

Since writing was her favorite thing to do

 

The Sage’s Words

(a poem by my mother)

And they approached the sage’s robe

And touched the saffron colored hem

O master! Cast they eye upon our woe

The utter desolation of our souls!

They trod on stormy waves and stretched

Begrimed and earthly care-worn hands

For soul-uplifting “darshan”

And the sage looked upon their helplessness

And the sick panic of their inner state

His eyes were filled with pity for their pain 

And casting searching gaze on them, he spoke

Look’d you for happiness from pleasure’s lure,

Yea from the glitter false of riches’ galaxy

From passion’s short-lived ecstasies,

And sensuous caverns of delight;

From foods and wines and pleasure’s phantasies,

And grisly grin of grabbing avarice –

Thus plunged you into denser, deeper night

Bound in the fetters of your earthly might,

Wrapped in possessions, now you stand;

Souls stifling, bound at feet and hand –

My friends you are indeed, a sorry sight!

Go then! He raised his arm aloft –

Shake off these fetters from your hearts

And clad in simple nothingness,

Naked of all these earthly glorying –

They only jewels, the precious timeless pearls

Of faith and truth and boundless love

Adorn thyself with these

And having turned thy back upon the gaudy world

Having washed off its clinging, tarnished dust,

In un-encumbered, pristine, nakedness –

Return to me.

                    ______________________________________

Happy Mother's Day to my mother, and Happy Mother's Day

to all mothers everywhere.