"MARY, my mother, wife of Joseph Sr, my dad
Was nanny, launderer, chef, and kitchen-hand
She worked for no wages and no overtime pay came her way
But as a mother to 18 children, she still took on other roles
Have you seen her?
Checking fevers and night chills not to mention the coughs and colds
Ever the night nurse in attendance, a moving silhouette from bed to bed
She pacified every child’s nightmarish murmurings
Saying, ‘sleep dear one, it’s just the thunder rolling’
Have you seen her?
And how did you know, Mum, that the smallest fellow
So indistinct in the dark was shivering on those cold rainy nights?
That you pulled the cover over him each time, shielding him from the icy wind that had blown in?
Did God tell you he was freezing or was it that super woman’s instinct called ‘Mother Knows Best?’
Have you seen her?
Thanks, Mum, for being the one and many, the spark that kept our home fires burning
Not forgetting, your ‘one-woman welcoming party’ when we returned from school
Have you seen her?
This much I know of ‘you’, Mum, and little else
But are these not good enough?
They won you the ringing of Heaven’s bells
Oh, how seraphic! That another saint has gone marching in?
Have you seen her?
This snapshot of a biography spoken by others, tells me all
That you too are counted among ‘The Super Mums’ the world celebrates today
Oh, if such great praise this tribute’s been
How much loftier will my grandiloquence be
If only life has kept you together with me?
Have you seen her?
So while others offer bouquets to their ‘Super Mums’ today
I shall return to the shattering silence of your tomb
To light a candle and sing a requiem, for that chance at life you gave me
In the sacred repository of your womb
Be joyful, Mum, in the halls of Paradise
For what are your regrets? I cannot count any
So, today, someone … somewhere, has written you a poem
Celebrating the Beatitudes you had fervently lived
Have you seen her?" – The Vibes, May 9, 2021
This poem was written by the author based on what he had heard about his mother from his older siblings. The writer’s mum passed away when he was just 13 months old after delivering her 18th child on February 24, 1958. Wishing all mums a blessed Mother's Day.
