"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mother - from playground to wheelchair

An Epistle on Turning Fifty

First you lose the impatience of youth,
linger over emerging bulbs
and let the phone ring.

Mirror mirror on the wall,
from the first aching step out of bed
to grinding the next day’s coffee,
I am my mother after all.

I rub the bump I’ve developed in my palm
and gauge the knob on my wrist.



Not that this is me, mind you, but my mum is home from the hospital (yay!) and the infection she picked up there is gone from her broken leg, and I felt like sharing this poem with you. She is navigating her own home with a walker, and I take each aching step with her.

Life, a circle. From the playground to the dance floor to the yoga class to the acquiescence of a cane to the necessity of a walker to the resignation of a wheelchair, but back to the walker now! How far can we go?

Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of you who balance your lives like flamingoes on one leg, make time for creative endeavors, and carry the world on your backs.

13 comments:

Travener said...

Nice poem. Have a good mom's day!

Wine and Words said...

Happy Mother's Day Yvonne. It's hell getting old. It's just damn hard.

Anne R. Allen said...

Such good news that your mother is out of that place and back in her own domain for Mother's Day.

Lovely poem. So true.

And yeah, what Wine and Words said.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Trav,
Thank you very much!

Annie,
Thanks. Happy Mother's Day to you to!

Anne,
Thank you very much. There is no place like home, and I think as one gets older, that's even more true.

Anne Gallagher said...

I am my mother after all.

Oh yes. I am.

Thanks for your encouragement today. It means a lot.

Rosaria Williams said...

A wonderful post. Happy Mother's Day.

Jemi Fraser said...

That is wonderful ... 'I am my mother after all' had me laughing. Aren't we all? :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Anne,
You're welcome. A writer never gets enough encouragment. Thanks.

Rosaria,
Thank you. Happy Mother's Day to you!

Jemi,
Hi! Yes, it seems there's no escape. Thanks for commenting and have a great weekend.

Anthony Duce said...

Great post. Getting old is all around me these days. Enjoy the good days ahead. Am happy for your mom.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Tony,
Thank you. So kind.

Sarah Wedgbrow said...

I would like more of that poem please. I wasn't ready for it to be finished. :)
SO glad that your mom is doing better.
Oh, man, do I linger over bulbs. And I've discovered an appreciation for birds, which I never thought would happen. Closer to fifty than I thought.

Talli Roland said...

Lovely poem. I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Sarah,
Thanks! Sometimes I think it's good to be short and sweet, since I seldom am! Oh, and birds? I, too, am only beginning to appreciate them. Good to hear from you, as always.

Talli,
Hi! It was a nice day. Thanks.