Poems

 

My Mom - My best Friend

My friend was there from the day she screamed,

"Help, help, get her out of me!"

She changed the diapers, spread the bed

Although I put pressure on her head.

She was there through the good and through the bad

My first heartbreak, now that was sad.

Heartaches and pain, through the storms and through the rain

I know you can relate

Moms are the best, aren't they?

- Kristyn Sewell, 9

***

My Mother

A strong woman,

A married woman,

A black woman,

A Jamaican woman,

A woman with many trades,

A heart of gold, a lover of children,

The birth facilitator of my brothers, sisters and yours truly.

A humble being, a loving being,

The simplest one you can find,

Experienced in household management,

Experienced in the production of good children,

Loved by her husband,

Loved by her offspring.

A survivor, a fighter,

A financial manager,

A woman of great worth,

A woman with many stories,

Always there for her children,

Always seeking a better and cheaper way,

Aged but young at heart,

Serious but knows how to make you laugh.

I love this woman,

I am happy when she is happy,

I am sad when she is sad,

She knows me more than anyone,

No other woman can take her place,

She is my best friend,

She is my favourite sister,

She is my favourite aunt,

She is as real as you can get.

This woman knows how to pray,

This woman will never make you go astray.

A god-fearing woman,

A woman with vision,

A woman with soul,

I came from her womb,

I am flesh of her flesh,

I am blood of her blood,

This woman, a phenomenal woman,

This woman is my mother.

- Erika N. Heslop Martin

***

Memoirs of mom

From the cradle to

Eating at the table, I'll always remember mom.

I was tender aged,

too young to know what's right and what's wrong,

she helped to protect me from all harm.

Month end visits to fast food restaurants,

we would sit as a family, having dinner in the town.

From conception I was brought to church.

This solidified my foundation for worship on Earth.

Weekdays review of my schoolwork and 'Homework book',

I was given questions by mom in a 'quiz book'.

Which helped me understand

the importance of study and academic excellence.

Sacrificing time and energy, all for me.

And for her, I still laugh with glee.

Grateful for all she's done,

for without her I wouldn't have life

My mom, a strong, black stalwart of Christ.

- Melissa-Ann Campbell

***

My mother

She is a black woman

She was a poor woman

She was a hard working woman

She was a trying woman

She was a good woman

She was a kind woman

But it was the lack of ideas that

could ease the pain of the poorness

that had her bound from birth

She was a pleasant woman

She was a determined woman

She became a sickly woman

But she was a hard working

woman

My mother, my mother

Committed to the family she had

The cutlass was her pen

The basket was her crown

Over hills

Across vallies

Across rivers

Through the mud she

trod daily

Through the bushes that were

covered with the night dew

As she walked her skirt soaking

wet

But she slowly and with determination

walked along

My mother, my mother

Back-bending tasks from

day to day

She had never wished to go away

She gently put them through

With a wooden tub on her head

A scrubbing board in her hand

The riverside was her destiny

The spirit of meekness captures

her features as she boldly stepped with gently strides

My mother

She became a sickly woman

She was a determined woman

She was a foolish woman

My heart aches for my mother

Because I now understand

My mother

My mother

My mother

- V. O. Ricketts

***

A Mother's Delight

Joyous giggles erupted punctuated the air

Exciting chuckles permeated the atmosphere

Angelic face wreathed in smiles

Her chubby legs wriggled in exuberance

Tiny hands grasped wildly

for what was not there

Torrents of emotions soared within

illuminating my heart, my soul

Exploded in adoration, overflowed in pride

Smile, laughter, emanated

As together we played

Tranquil, calm, how peaceful she seem

An alluring beauty; I beamed

So lovable, so serene

This amazing, delightful child of mine.

Cuddled, in my arms, it was like yesterday

you could only lay and play

Oh! How awesome, wonderful

As you stooped, giggled, ignored all

and stated to crawl

Then on wobbling, tottering tiny feet you stood

Trying to balance, and then you fall

My happiness, contain I cannot

My baby is now a tiny tot

Your agility, wit amuses me a lot

My love for you is at the utmost top

Nurturing you forever until my heartbeat stops

My delightful bundle of joy,

None of your kind

This child of mine

Winsome Miles

***

DEAR MOTHER

Mother, you are wonderful.

A marvellous member of the family of God,

That's who you are.

Like lilies in the garden, you beautify our lives.

You are a blessing.

You are an inspiration.

From the very beginning you loved me and nurtured me.

You protected me instinctively.

For nine long months you kept me warm inside of you.

For nine long months you told me all your secrets.

For nine long months you gave me your all.

Mother, you are beautiful.

You are kind.

I love you for loving me.

My love for you extends beyond outer space.

My love for you shines brighter than the stars at night.

My love for you cannot be extinguished.

Mother, you are strong.

You have endured so much for me.

You have moulded and shaped me into who I am today.

You are my super woman, my wonder woman,

My guardian angel.

You are the essence of my strength.

Mother, you are great.

I admire you.

I appreciate you more and more each second,

Each minute and each hour of every day.

For everything that you have done for me,

You never asked me to pay.

You are the cherry on my pie.

You are the sugar in my lemonade.

For you I am grateful.

You are the butter on my bread,

And the ketchup on my chicken.

But, on you I would never put any form of tax.

You are important, you are needed, you are essential.

You are significant to my existence.

Like salt, you are the flavour of my life.

Mother, I am forever yours.

You are forever mine.

You are always in my heart.

In my success and happiness, you have played your part.

I celebrate you.

I dedicate my love to you.

Mother, from the core of my heart,

I declare my love to you.

Oh mother, dear mother, I love you.

- Erika Heslop Martin

***

Rowena Alicia,

"Livy" "Luvy"

"Ewana" or any derivative

truly it is in the pages of the Gleaner that life unfolds

her picture recently retrieved by the Gleaner archives

made my day, my smile, made my sister cry

beheld by her beauty at 20

Mom we still "loving you" beyond "70"

The Media like the Gleaner must be praised

for being the mediator, the fourth estate when

all other intervention fails

for documenting the lives of a people, in page, print

digital form, arguments, counter statements pictures

that give form history meaning, A kind of Mother of print...

thou faded print and pixels blur

the "carbon image" is something that her greatgrand children

and those follow can touch feel and enlarge

and who knows with advancing technology experience a piece of

her life at moment in ways we do not yet know of today

they say you love a man, the way you love your mother

her picture says it is okay to be obsessed with her beauty

her unique copy of a person, I don't have that person

but this picture out of the womb of the North Street giant

makes me understand why my Mother so loved the Gleaner with

her article "Me and Me Gleaner" documented in the library

at the Centre for Latin America and Caribbean Studies,

York University, Ontario Canada

I touch the newspaper clippings

of her writings, year after year throughout the years published

by the Gleaner, anecdotes, marriage announcements, births

even in those simple prints

is life,

thanks to the Editors, past and present who make possible

preservation giving a voice and a face

and to the Gleaner for giving my Mother that space

a picture is worth much more than a "thousand words"

I'd rather have the "PERSON" but life sometimes removes them,

but a PICTURE you can take everywhere!

- Helen-Ann Elizabeth Wilkinson