Dear Mom
Dear mom, if you knew how much I admired
The strength and endurance your hard life required.
I know you felt guilty for sins of the past
And the shadows some choices you made may have cast.
Instead all I see is a woman who labored
To beat all the odds not stacked in her favor.
I remember the mother before daddy died
Who believed in herself and had well-deserved pride.
But twenty-eight is too young to be left all alone
With three kids, a house, and no job of your own.
The man that you married was evil inside
Did you know when he beat you I heard and I cried?
I understand why you got lost in your booze
The divorce was actually a bit of good news.
Although you were drunk every day I recall
You somehow still fed and clothed one and all.
Your drinking destroyed my sweet mother, not her will
Cuz that strong, prideful woman was trapped in there still.
When I had my first child, you didn't come by
Then I heard you were told one more drink and you'd die.
And you stopped just like that. And slowly but sure
My mother came back, and then even more.
A grandmother I wasn't ashamed for my girls
To spend their time with, mesmerized by your pearls.
For fifteen years sober, til one day you passed
Away from the pain and with daddy at last.
I'm so proud of your strength in beating that sore
But knowing you sober made me miss you more.
I'm told all the time that I look just like you
If I have half your strength, anything I can do!
April 22, 2016
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