You Need a Mother Very Badly

Brett Harris, who lost his mother earlier this year has posted this poem:

You need a mother very badly!

               she always used to say

And I agreed when loads of laundry needed washing

       or when my stomach stole my lunch and

               held it ransom for a midday snack, and I

       always told her she was right

                            because it made her

       Smile, knowing she was loved.



Then I left for college and suddenly what I needed was

        George Washington's face times five

                Once for washing,

                         again for drying

    And my face on a keycard

           fed me three times a day

    Sometimes more if I

           could stash a snack in Styrofoam for later.



But I still called her on the phone and she

             still told me I'd be lost without her, and I

     always told her she was right

                         because it made her

       Laugh, knowing she was loved.



Summer came and went, and she

      never said, You need a mother very badly,

and we never told her we'd be lost without her

                     because it made her

       Cry, knowing she was fading.



But life goes on, and we're still living

      lungs keep breathing, hearts keep beating

            heavier perhaps, but steady as the world turns, and I

don't always think about the reasons why

      she needed to be needed so

                     because it always makes me

       Weep...

       knowing I was loved.

 
(HT: Josh Harris)