MOTHER, MINE
Mother, mine,
gone from me too soon.
It’s hard to catch a glimpse of you
in my mind’s eye—
your face blurring,
then disappearing with the years.
My brothers tell me,
“You laugh just like Mom.”
Relatives whisper,
“Who does she dress like?”
and, “If she isn’t the spittin’ image…”
as they elbow each other
in shadowed corners.
On the telephone I always get,
“You sound just like your mother.”
Do people honestly think
it doesn’t bother me to hear that?
The trouble is, they aren’t thinking.
When I sobbingly question my father
about his now sidelong glances,
he admits, “I find it difficult
to look you full in the face.”
I run for my room.
Everyone else,
apparently,
sees her in me.
Maybe it’s the only way
I have of truly seeing her.
© 2010 B.J. Lee. All rights reserved.
Note from B.J.: This poem is a remembrance of the time period just after my mother's untimely passing when I was seventeen.
Kenn Nesbitt has challenged us to write poems for our mothers this month. Click HERE for more details.
Post your poem on our October 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, October 28th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Kenn's delightful new anthology, forthcoming from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on November 1, 2016:
A raw and beautiful poem, BJ. Hugs to that inner 17-year-old.
ReplyDeleteSo poignant, B.J. I like the special voice you showed, and the change that calmed you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the hugs, Michelle. My 17 year old self accepts them gratefully!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda! It was a startling thing at the time - to be so much like my mother without ever realizing it before. Or maybe it was just that my family latched on to that as a way of remembering her. In any case, it was a difficult time in my life. But I'm ok now. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely, B.J. Thanks for sharing this one.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Buffy!
DeleteA very endearing poem about a mom a daughter lost too early. Lovely!
DeleteVery touching, BJ...and I'm sure quite cathartic for you, as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt! Yes, cathartic is the word!
DeleteOh my, BJ, straight to the heart - poignant and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bridget! Yes, I guess I didn't hold back...
DeleteWow, what a painful memory. Thanks for sharing your heart with us.
ReplyDeleteYes, painful, Margaret, but necessary to put down. I was almost afraid to post it...
Deletethis tears my eyes to read so much in this beautiful and heart felt tribute XXXX Thank You four sharing this with all of us
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jessica!
DeleteBeautiful and real, B.J. Thanks for digging deep.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Violet! This poem helped me work our certain feelings about my mom's death and it's aftermath.
DeleteOh, my. How hard that must have been. Thanks for sharing your poem.
ReplyDeletethank you, Rosi! It was a very difficult time. I'm over it, now, but sometimes I still think about it.
DeleteTook my breath away. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWow - thank you, Robyn!
DeleteA beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Freeda!
ReplyDeleteA very endearing poem to a mom a daughter didn't get a chance to know.
ReplyDeleteThank you, lovepoetry! Yes, exactly!
ReplyDeleteSad and beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete