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Sonnet for Mom
(October 21, 1933 – March 28, 2014)
I could not see how much she cared for me;
Her faults were amplified in my young mind.
But now I’m only left with memories;
Perspective changes as I look behind.
True need in childhood days I did not know;
She fixed three meals a day and then she made
The time to help me with my math. She sewed
My clothes, and taught me how to cook and bake.
She worked from home so she was always there,
Meticulously keeping her domain,
Ensuring that for life I was prepared,
And sacrificing so I’d have great gain.
__She did not say, “I love you,” to my face;
__Her love in action did her words outpace.
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Gigi Ryan is a wife, mother, grandmother, and home educator. She lives in rural Tennessee.
What a beautiful tribute… thank you for sharing your Mom with us.
Your welcome, Peg. Thanks for reading. Sharing my mom is the least I can do to honor her memory.
Precious tribute to your mom. Our mothers often have sacrificed for us and too often we do not know or understand what they did for us until too late to thank them. You said it beautifully and with heartfelt love and feelings.
Thank you, Roy. That is so true. It helps me to have grace for my kids when I think of this. I trust that someday they will look back on these years with eyes of wisdom, as I did.
A lovely gift for your mother, Gigi. I’m sure she appreciates it.
Thank you, jd. Sadly, this I didn’t write until many years after her passing. However, our relationship was strengthened before her death, even including her saying, “I love you,” in response to my saying so to her.
Thank you for this thoughtful poem so true for many of us. Allegra
Dear Allegra,
Thank you for your comment. It took me a while to realize that personal poems had the potential to encourage and bless others.
A beautiful tribute to your mother. We belong to an age in which we believed that actions indeed spoke louder than words
Thank you, Rohini. I agree with you. Like faith, words without actions are dead. As James said, “I will show thee my faith by my works.”
Thank you for sharing something so personal to us all, it was a touching and emotional read.
Dear Drilon, Thank you for your comment. It is a privilege to touch the hearts of others.
That’s a lovely and very heart warming sonnet which is a joy to read, thank you for sharing.
Dear Yael,
Thank you. Giving joy to others is certainly a joy to me.
Such a beautiful and touching tribute. The couplet sums it all up. Thank you for sharing it with us, Ms. Ryan.
Your poem really hits home, Gigi.
Thanks for the read.
You’re welcome, Paul. Thank you for your comment.
This is an evocative piece, more because of how I happened to write one for my mother few months back.
Thank you for this.
You’re welcome, Satyananda. It seems many of us share this theme!
This was my poem a year ago.
A Mother’s Love
The first breath of your love, a scented breeze
Caressing the flower of my childhood;
Yet in winter, the sun behind the trees,
Whose warm presence in youth I understood.
What could match those years spent in such a blissful state,
Or what love be made of such a sincere touch?
Independent of time, space, twisted fate;
A love that didn’t change when I changed so much.
Is life a mendicant, helpless and scorned
To have outlived a mother’s precious care?
If so, then let this bitter truth be mourned,
For there is no love when she is not there.
– Satyananda Sarangi
I wrote one of those, too: https://classicalpoets.org/2023/07/24/three-poems-on-sleep-and-dreams-by-joshua-c-frank/
I learned so much from my mother’s example, and have written such a Lot about my mama. Never expressed it enough while she lived, just hoped she knew, but was never sure. So happy to know others also have tried to make up for this in our lives, and in our work.
Thank you for raising this topic.
I learned so much from my mother’s example, and have written a lot about my mama. Never expressed it enough while she lived, just hoped she knew,, but was never sure. So happy to know others also have tried to make up for this in our lives, and in .our work.
Thank you for raising this topic.
God bless your mom. I especially like the closing couplet.