05/14/2024
Motherhood is complicated. Mother's Day can be painful or simply disappointing. Be gentle with yourself this time of year, and always.
Maybe your mother was the perfect mother.
Maybe she carried you
bled for you
sang to you
smiled at you
nurtured you and marveled in you.
Maybe she understood your essence
and was patient and let you unfold
in your own time and in your own way
honoring the heart of you all the while.
Maybe your mother cared for you;
Maybe she was there for you
long past childhood days.
Maybe your mother worked for you
cooked for you
sewed for you.
Maybe your mother listened to you
held space for you
Maybe your mother laughed with you
played with you
stayed with you through all your years.
Maybe your mother protected you,
But
Maybe she neglected you
rejected you.
Maybe she abandoned you
hard-handed you
betrayed you
flayed you.
Maybe your mother couldn’t mother.
Maybe your mother forgot you
lost interest
grew cold.
Maybe she never really loved you.
Maybe you were just her duty
for a little while.
Maybe your mother did the best she could
with what she had.
Maybe she was sick or sad.
Maybe her mother was bitter or bad
and hurt her in her deepest parts.
Now
Maybe you are a mother.
Maybe you are a perfect mother.
Maybe you pour abundant love into
your daughters, your sons.
Maybe you delight in them.
Maybe you struggle
Maybe you feel exhausted
resentful
lost and unseen.
Maybe you feel nothing.
Maybe you are just surviving.
Maybe you are not a mother
but long to be a mother
Maybe you mother others.
Maybe you don’t want to be a mother;
will never be a mother
Yet
We all need a mother
Yes, we do
And maybe there is a perfect mother
just for you.
She is the mother of your mother
and your mother’s mother
and back as far as the eye can see
or mind can know
or soul can feel
to the first mother.
Lie on the grass and feel Her heart.
You were formed of Her earth.
You come from Her waters.
Her winds kiss your cheek eternally.
Her rains cry with you when you cry
and wash your wounds.
She will heal you
nourish you
wait for you.
She will give you beauty
give you joy
give you new life
again and again.
She will always be there
to enfold you in Her embrace
when at last you return —
Maybe you have the perfect mother . . .
~ Rebekah Myers, A Perfect Mother
copyright © 5/9/2021 by Rebekah Myers
Sacred Sisters Full Moon Circle
Art: Jana Brike
Jana Brike