Mother

Mother, my mother
Bearer of two sons
two boys
two men
Mother of dirty faces,
pee-filled snow suits,
dirty baseball uniforms,
missing toques, mitts,
and barely afforded snowboots
Mother of ripped knees,
pavement scrape elbows,
bloody noses
Mother of laundry not her own,
dishes dirtied not by her,
messes left for her,
garbage tossed by husband
Distributor of punishment, praise,
criticism, and unfettered love
Putter of soap in eldest son's mouth
after he uttered the f-word at the tender age of six
Straightener outer of eldest son's out-of-joint nose
after his little brother was born
Gatherer of groceries and toys,
present wrapper,
tooth fairy banker,
bicycle financier
Shopper extraordinaire,
collector of many shoes,
hanger of many pants,
purveyor of ironing board rhapsodies
Slinger of meanest tacos west of the Pecos,
fryer of two minute hot dogs,
orderer of French fries even when she shouldn't have,
server of abstract culinary creations
Queen of middle class breakfast in a housecoat,
she barely awake, hair still in yesterday,
boys drink your juice, boys put on your coats
Fighter offer of groping husband,
his hands on her ass in the kitchen,
her yelling for help,
two pyjama'd boys to the rescue,
a family laughing their way through a Saturday morning,
mother and father teaching their sons how to love
Hugger and comforter of heartbroken lost woman adult sons,
flusher of dead gold fish,
thrower away of unused clothes,
accepter of apologies from ungrateful boys
Cryer upon son's leaving the nest,
giver of emergency cash to grown men who, by all rights,
should have their own emergency cash,
buyer of meals including beer,
giver of excessive amounts of leftovers
Holder of my past that I know only part of,
owner of her own past,
her own heartbreaks and victories before husband,
family, house, and separation
Mother, life on hold while her children grew
Mother, life on hold while her and husband grew apart
Mother of my youth
Mother of a now broken family
Mother dealing with the end of one life
Mother, it is still painful for my brother and me
Mother, I catch glimpses of you in my mirror
Mother starting a different life
Mother emerging as herself, her sons finally seeing her
Mother wishing her sons would call more often

My lover, my lover is also a mother
A Mother of one
Mother of a blooming girl
Mother hurricane feminist putting in 100% to get to 80%
Mother stepping over wreckage for the word and the way
A blur of raw energy and sultry womanhood
Holder of daughter and multiple incarnations of the word "no"
Homework helper,
room painter,
picture hangerer,
grammar corrector,
poetess of a rank somewhere up there
Lover of desert and ocean alike,
Shooter of a wicked crock pot,
slicer of morning toast,
weeper at the first tomatoes of the season
Giver of fist pounding lectures,
slippery morality tales,
stories about that guy in that movie from last year,
tales of that song by the girl who plays guitar
Purveyor of sweet moves,
sexy beats,
whispered innuendo,
and hotter-than-a-three-dollar-pistol dresses
Cryer over nothing, and not just any kind of nothing,
but that everything kind of nothing
Dauntless hoper,
dreamer,
expounder,
taxi cab driver,
verbal pugilist,
flame putter outer,
mover of me into places I have no name for
Hoverer in my forebrain,
my muse, my morning kiss,
my difficult and striking rhododendron
Lover, you are in what I do,
what I reach for,
what I create,
I sing for you,
off key perhaps,
but I sing.

Mothers walking through happiness and sorrow
with grace and fortitude
Mothers forming me, informing me,
holding a part of me that I cannot
Mothers, I am in your debt.
Mothers, my love to you.