While raising 10 other children,
three of them born after I came home,
She accomplished Himalayas of laundry, Rocky Mountains of cooking,
and Fruitful Plains of flowery gardens
In the midst of all this activity
She did everything I needed and almost everything I wanted
Because she fed, bathed, and made wrinkle-free beds,
I spent more than 50 years in bed without a pressure sore,
no case of pneumonia, not even a single night in a hospital
I was a reader and she found perfect books
at the library and on the bookmobile
I was a writer and she scribbled my confusing corrections
in crowded margins
I was a poet and she brought me stories
of outdoor experiences
that I could turn into haiku and tanka
I was a bookmaker and she helped me design covers
measure and cut and tape, choose fonts and evaluate colors
She packaged and mailed hundreds of books
She participated in every aspect of my life,
Always with interest and engagement
She was at least half my memory
Now she relaxes on her sunny porch
Great-grandchildren and hummingbirds
swirl by
Happy Mother’s Day
To my amazing
And very dear mother
You gave life to me twice –
once on November 16, 1949
and again day by day starting in the 1950s
With love,
Carol
