Poems -- 1

M - O - T - H - E - R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell
"MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

~~ Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

MY MOTHER

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother.

~~ Ann Taylor

ON MOTHER'S DAY

On Mother's Day we got up first
so full of plans we almost burst.
We started breakfast right away
as our surprise for Mother's Day.
We picked some flowers, then hurried back
to make some coffee----rather black.
We wrapped our gifts and wrote a card
and boiled the eggs----a little hard.
And then we sang a serenade
which burned the toast, I am afraid.
But mother said, amidst our cheers
"Oh, what a big surprise, my dears,
I've not had such a treat in years."
And she was smiling to her ears.

~~ Aileen Fisher

RICHER THAN GOLD

I had a mother who read me things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings --
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a mother who read to me.

~~ Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954)

TO MY MOTHER

Because I feel that in the heavens above
The angels, whispering one to another,
Can find among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of "Mother,"
Therefore by that dear name I have long called you,
You who are more than mother unto me,
And filled my heart of hearts,
where death installed you,
In setting my Virginia's spirit free.
My mother -- my own mother, who died early,
Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are the mother to the one I loved so dearly,
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
But that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul that its soul-life.

~~ Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

REFLECTIONS OF A MOTHER

I gave you life,
but cannot live it for you.

I can teach you things,
but I cannot make you learn.

I can give you directions,
but I cannot be there to lead you.

I can allow you freedom,
but I cannot account for it.

I can take you to church,
but I cannot make you believe.

I can teach you right from wrong,
but I cannot always decide for you.

I can buy you beautiful clothes,
but I cannot make you beautiful inside.

I can offer you advice,
but I cannot accept it for you.

I can give you love,
but I cannot force it upon you.

I can teach you to share,
but I cannot make you unselfish.

I can teach you respect,
but I cannot force you to show honor.

I can advise you about friends,
but cannot choose them for you.

I can advise you about sex,
but I cannot keep you pure.

I can tell you the facts of life,
but I can't build your reputation.

I can tell you about drink,
but I can't say "no" for you.

I can warn you about drugs,
but I can't prevent you from using them.

I can tell you about lofty goals,
but I can't achieve them for you.

I can teach you about kindness,
but I can't force you to be gracious.

I can warn you about sins,
but I cannot make you moral.

I can love you as a child,
but I cannot place you in God's family.

I can pray for you,
but I cannot make you walk with God.

I can teach you about Jesus,
but I cannot make Jesus your Lord.

I can tell you how to live,
but I cannot give you eternal life.

I can love you with unconditional love all of my life...
and I will ! ! !

~~ Author Unknown

MOTHERHOOD

The bravest battle that ever was fought!
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
'Twas fought by the mothers of men.

Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,
With a sword or noble pen;
Nay, not with eloquent words or thought
From mouth of wonderful men!

But deep in a walled-up woman's heart --
Of a woman that would not yield,
But bravely, silently bore her part --
Lo, there is the battlefield!

No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
No banner to gleam and wave;
But oh! those battles, they last so long --
From babyhood to the grave.

Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,
She fights in her walled-up town --
Fights on and on in her endless wars
Then silent, unseen, goes down.

Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,
And soldiers to shout and praise!
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
Were fought in those silent ways.

O spotless woman in a world of shame,
With splendid and silent scorn,
Go back to God as white as you came --
The Kingliest warrior born!

~~ Joaquin Miller (1839-1913)

WONDERFUL MOTHER

God made a wonderful mother,
A mother who never grows old;
He made her smile of the sunshine,
And He moulded her heart of pure gold;
In her eyes He placed bright shining stars,
In her cheeks fair roses you see;
God made a wonderful mother,
And He gave that dear mother to me.

~~ Pat O'Reilly

MOTHER'S SONGS

Songs my mother taught me,
In the days long vanish'd
Seldom from her eyelids
Were the teardrops banish'd.
Now I teach my children
Each melodious measure,
Oft the teardrops flowing,
Oft they flow from my mem'ry's treasure.

~~ Author Unknown

A PICTURE MEMORY

A picture memory brings to me;
I look across the years and see
Myself beside my mother's knee.
I feel her gentle hand restrain
My selfish moods, and know again
A child's blind sense of wrong and pain.
But wiser now,
a man gray grown,
My childhood's needs are better known.
My mother's chastening love I own.

~~ John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)

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