Mom

I watched you live
I watched you die
I saw the things that made you cry

When I was just a little boy-
always wanting some new toy
you took me to the Goodwill store
for there your money bought you more
But more than shopping for a toy
for you the outing brought some joy

Potatoes peeled each day to cook
was it a bushel that it took?
from steaming pots with mismatched lids
came endless meals for hungry kids

And laundry running wild it seemed
you tamed it with an old machine
I stood by the wringer tub
my hand upon the spinning hub
Thus whiled away the lazy day
till kids came home from school to play

But Mom, you wanted us to nap
And I could never see
the reason why a napping you
required a napping me

You had a goodness and a charm
that kept your tongue from doing harm
What others learned in God’s good book
you seemed to know without a look

Time went on you lived a life
the ups the downs some fun some strife
Most things in you I saw and learned
while other things I vowed to spurn

A funny thing this sneaky life
some things we spurn we end up like
So part of you is part of me
no matter how I want to be
But there is one thing I can say
in which I went the other way
This statement I will say to you
because I know that it is true-

My children watched me live
someday they’ll watch me die
but Mom you have to know-
they didn’t see me cry