April is Poetry Month: Day 5

"I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing; when they, who are so fresh from  God, love us.    Charles Dicken  

    In today's world, motherhood is a fraught undertaking, now involving politicians and courts making decisions for women, in what feels like an ever more dangerous world of national tensions, gun violence, wars and climate disaster on the horizon.  

Lexi, May, 2014, by J. Doolittle

    Whatever the motivations of the powerful might be, either good or bad, young mothers have to feel some trepidation about bringing new life into the world.  

    But perhaps, it has always been so.  The future has always had aspects of danger and uncertainty.  Giving birth can be the ultimate act of hope.  

    This poem seems to capture some of the ambiguity about motherhood that many women have felt, along with the ultimate joy of a child to love.

To My Child

By Anne Campbell

You are the trip I did not take;

You are the pearls I cannot buy;

You are my blue Italian lake;

You are my piece of foreign sky.

You are my Honolulu moon;

You are the book I did not write.

You are my heart's unuttered tune;

You are the candle in my night.

You are the flower beneath the snow,

In my dark skies a bit of blue;

Answering disappointment's  blow

With: "I am happy! I have you!" 

    

From A Mother's Pride, A Father's Joy.  Compiled by Lillas M. Watt, The World Publishing Company, 1970 

    I received this book when I was a new mother.  There was a host of emotions that I experienced, tiredness perhaps at the top of the list.  I don't think I've ever fully examined those emotions in the busyness of raising children, holding down a job and managing a home.  

    Other parents out there....did you ever fully grapple with the big idea of parenthood?  What conclusions did you reach? As it stands right now, I am forever grateful for my unique and precious children and now my grandchildren.  I probably wouldn't have written that book anyway.