Mother’s Day is a special day, whether your mother is nearby, across the country, or across the ocean. It’s a time to reach out to her, hear her voice, hold her hand. It’s a time to renew that special bond. Even though my mother is gone many years, memories of her are not. And, strangely, those mother/daughter bones of contention that arose over the years are no longer important.

What is important are the special activities that will fill the hours: having a family gathering, taking your mom to brunch, placing a cross-country or Skype call, visiting a gravesite with her favorite flowers in hand.

In the book All Ways A Woman, a collaboration I did as a writer with artist Lynn Centeno, are several poems that ring true for Mother’s Day. I’d like to share them with you. The first is called “My Mother’s Hat.” An aside: Billy Collins was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He suggests using an object as a key to unlocking a door to a larger, deeper idea. This was indeed the case with my mother’s hat.

A simple hat woven of straw …

My Mother’s Hat

My mother’s hat is woven of straw,
a worn and weathered circle
of complicated love.

Its presence
recalls her special gifts to me.
Choices, rainbowed with dreams.

My mother’s hat shields from summer’s sun,
a wide-brimmed haven
of sacrifice and constancy.

Wearing it
brings her memory close.
I hear her words, feel her near me.

by Carol Mann

***

Motherhood offers life’s greatest joys, challenges, and rewards. As a mother, you form a special bond with each child. The following words are for you.

Mother and daughter share a special moment …

In My Arms – Watercolor by Lynn Centeno

In My Arms

My precious little girl,
your every breath
takes mine away.

Forever I remember the first time
I held you, the moment we became
mother and daughter.

Know always I’m here,
your soft cloud, your safe
haven in life.

I savor your sweet
innocence, the beating
of your heart against mine.

“Mommy,” I hear as you snuggle close.

by Carol Mann

***

A young boy’s first experiences with art …

White Paper – Watercolor by Lynn Centeno

White Paper

blue paint dollops and green
spread
slick
on paper
pristine

fingers slide across the sleekness
swish backward
wiggle forward
whirl in circles
twist and twirl

ocean waves curl
become rugged peaks
meld to a monster’s face
blossom into
a giant rayed sun

a smile lights my little boy’s face
smudges
of finger paint
decorate
his cheek, his nose

by Carol Mann

Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day! 

Hope your day is fabulous!