Prompt: a poem about a painful experience or one involving some other emotion, without stating the emotion. I've written enough pain poems this year to last a lifetime! So this isn't.
On your very first birthday
what did I give you,
knowing I gave?
A long journey
twelve hours, exhausting.
The briefest touch of my arms.
And instant recognition:
you could only be mine,
with those family features.
I gave you
a mother too tired
to hold you long that first time,
one who couldn’t feed you,
but could later cuddle, talk to you, rock
once we got the bottle right.
Much later I discovered
other things I gave you
from the first –
a love of poetry
and the gift to write it
from my Dad and his Dad and me
and music, not from
but through me,
one of my mother’s talents.
Now you’re 41
in just a few days.
I can’t believe it.
It’s hard to know what
I might give you this birthday.
Usually I don’t, just a call
or an email. We always say
we don’t need words –
we who love them.
And these days it’s you
who finds gifts for me,
nearly always a perfect book.
"Happy Birthday" is the Midweek Motif prompt at Poets United for 19 March 2014. This seems a perfect piece to submit!
We always say, we don’t need words – we who love them - Excellent, words of encouragement are such a source of joy. Love the way this feels
ReplyDeleteThank you. He liked it too. :)
DeleteLovely heartfelt poem!
ReplyDeleteThank you rallentanda. I wish I could comment on your blog too, but every time I try, either the comment is rejected or I am told that my browser cannot find your blog.
DeleteRosemary, it sounds like with your son the gifts flow both ways. I like the way you 'gave' him poetry and he gives you books!
ReplyDeleteHe always knows exactly what I'll love.
DeleteSplendid! Memory and present mingle so that the birthday is a gift both ways. And to look back and see the WIN in a day when you were so tired, is unconditional love for him and for you too. Thank God for children, mothers, words, books. This is an entrancing and magical poem. Thank you for posting it.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to come back to this poem and find it now strikes me as better than I thought it was when I wrote it! LOL.
DeleteYou made a wonderful birthday gift to your son Rosemary....such beautiful thoughts....
ReplyDeleteThank you. (Smiles.)
Deleteand in the blink of an eye, the child is an adult. :)
ReplyDeletesplendid poem, Rosemary, tender and heartfelt. the image of the bottle resonates with me.
Ah yes, bottle feeding is something fathers can do too, right? :)
DeleteThis speaks of a job well done..both growing and knowing each other and yourselves..wonderful!
ReplyDeleteYes, it turned out all right. One never knows how it will go, while doing the job, but he was always fairly easy to get on with.
DeleteA beautiful poem about a wonderful relationship. Loved this, Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteYes, this relationship is a great blessing in my life.
DeleteThis is such a moving piece and to know where your impetus to poetry originates. I have no idea myself
ReplyDeleteYes, in my case it runs in the family, and I'm glad to have passed it on. But, so long as it does originate, the where from is interesting but secondary.
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