To my dear Mother…

I’ve only called you “Mother”.
There’s reverence in that name,
But all that this has come to mean
Can no longer be the same.
Giving of all the treasures you hold
Over so very long a time
Has to be exhausting
With its relentless, ceaseless storyline.
I cannot expect that it’s all on you
To fulfill all my wants or needs.
I’m older now and have learned to see
That life can’t be all about me.

I truly love to walk with you
And to attend to your generous gifts.
Through all that I’ve come to feel and see,
I now know you in ways that for far too long
I have foolishly ignored or missed.
By this inattention to the breadth and width
Of the world by which I’m surrounded,
My ignorance and selfish ways
Did not grasp that your offerings are not unbounded.

We don’t want to believe or acknowledge
That nothing can be infinite.
Even a Mother’s sacrifice
Can crash into her limits.

During this advent of awaiting for
My hope, my spirit to be renewed,
I must also come to recognize you
With a more clear-eyed point of view.
I now believe a gift can last longer
When it is cared for with each new day.
So Mother, it’s my turn to care for you
And give up my wanton ways.
My faith, my belief in God guides me
Toward a path that is better than righteous.
I honor your largesse swaddled in love,
Mother of Earth, I search for the words,
To glorify you
And the gift that you are that is priceless.

From,

Susan Ceely Philips