Ma

Trying to capture all that a mother does, in words is so so difficult. Though this poem is about a mother, our parents are simply responsible for 'what we are today'. What they did for us we very easily forget. We just move on with our lives....We forget that they are 'real people' beyond being just someone's mother or father. They have needs, desires and hopes too, which they very often put aside, just for our happiness. And this becomes such a habit with us and them, that we forget about their existence beyond us and keep expecting them to live their lives according to what we want. Spare a thought, spare a moment, spare a smile. They do not ask for much!

(A picture of my mom and my niece, clicked by my brother - I love this picture!
They are the two people I love the most!)

Though I saw her each day of my life,
I barely noticed her
Sometimes I smelt her in the cup of tea that I sipped…
Staying up late in the nights as I prepared to read

Another time…I felt her as I rest my head
Whenever I returned home after a long day
I always found a pillow, a warm blanket and night clothes near my bed

My clothes were always soft and clean
Neatly stacked in my cupboard…I would see
Mindlessly I would mess them up each day
She silently re-arranged those…not a word she would say

Yet I barely noticed her….

Sometimes a glimpse of her I would see
As I sat with our old family album
In a sepia toned image…there was she
A young girl…on a picnic with her friends
A carefree girl, I saw through that lens

Never did I once stop to think
Where have all those people gone?
Never did I once ask her
What is it that SHE wants?

Since I barely noticed her…

She toiled endlessly
As days, months and years passed us by
All she wanted in return
Was to see, a smile on my face…
A twinkle in my eye

In the last twenty nine years
Not a single holiday has she earned
It is only now, that I stop to wonder
How does she find the strength to carry on?

I wish I could go back in time
And if I could do it all over again
I would not mess up my cupboards so often
Or come home late at nights or cause her pain

I wish I had listened to her
Noticed all that she was doing for me
I wish I could thank her for being by my side
Each and every time I felt at sea

All I can do now is
Thank her and God for giving her to me
And in my thoughts and prayers…
She shall always be!

Categories: Poems_ , Reflections_

poem'mother, ma