Harold Gilman: Mother and Child, 1918 / WC

“She was the stuff of which great men’s mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, feared at tea-parties, hated in shops, and loved at crises.”

— Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd

Mother o’ Mine

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

— by Rudyard Kipling

*****

To My Mother

You too, my mother, read my rhymes
For love of unforgotten times,
And you may chance to hear once more
The little feet along the floor.

— by Robert Louis Stephenson

*****

Cinco de Mayo

a battle
in some
history books

a fiesta
of music
and colors

a flag
waving
occasion

a flirting
dance
and a pinata

orchata
corn chips
and guacamole

a mango
with some chile
and lemon

a cry
of joy
and spring

yes, summer
vacation is just
around the corner!

by Francisco X. Alarcon
from Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems