A poem for Mother's Day

Maybe your mother was the perfect mother

Maybe she carried you

bled for you

sang to you

smiled at you

nurtured you and marveled in you

Maybe she understood your essence

and was patient and let you unfold 

in your own time and in your own way 

honoring the heart of you all the while

Maybe your mother cared for you 

Maybe she was there for you

long past childhood days 

Maybe your mother worked for you

cooked for you, sewed for you

Maybe your mother listened to you 

Maybe she held space for you

Maybe your mother laughed with you

played with you

stayed with you through all your years

Maybe your mother protected you

But

Maybe she neglected you

rejected you

Maybe she abandoned you

hard-handed you

betrayed you

flayed you

Maybe your mother couldn’t mother

Maybe your mother forgot you

lost interest 

grew cold 

Maybe she never really loved you

Maybe you were just her duty 

for a little while 

Maybe your mother did the best she could 

with what she had

Maybe she was sick or sad

Maybe her mother was bitter or bad

and hurt her in her deepest parts

Now

Maybe you are a mother 

Maybe you are a perfect mother 

Maybe you pour abundant love into 

your daughters, your sons

Maybe you delight in them

Maybe you struggle 

Maybe you feel exhausted 

resentful

lost and unseen

Maybe you feel nothing

Maybe you are just surviving

Maybe you are not a mother

but long to be a mother

Maybe you mother others 

Maybe you don’t want to be a mother; 

will never be a mother

Yet

We all need a mother 

Yes, we do

And maybe there is a perfect mother 

just for you

She is the mother of your mother 

and your mother’s mother

and back as far as the eye can see 

or mind can know 

or soul can feel

to the first mother 

Lie on the grass and feel Her heart

You were formed of Her earth 

You come from Her waters 

Her winds kiss your cheek eternally

Her rains cry with you when you cry 

and wash your wounds 

She will heal you

nourish you

wait for you

She will give you beauty

give you joy 

give you new life 

again and again 

She will always be there 

to enfold you in Her embrace 

when at last you return —

Maybe you have the perfect mother . . . 

~ Rebekah Myers, A Perfect Mother 

copyright © 5/9/2021 Rebekah Myers

post shared from Sacred Sisters Full Moon Circle