A Smile To Remember

we had goldfish and they circled around and around in the bowl on the table near the heavy drapes covering the picture window and my mother, always smiling, wanting us all to be happy, told me, 'be happy Henry! ' and she was right: it's better to be happy if you can but my father continued to beat her and me several times a week while raging inside his 6-foot-two frame because he couldn't understand what was attacking him from within.

Cross

My old man's a white old man And my old mother's black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were in hell, I'm sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well My old man died in a fine big house. My ma died in a shack.

As Soon As Fred Gets Out Of Bed

As soon as Fred gets out of bed, his underwear goes on his head. His mother laughs, 'Don't put it there, a head's no place for underwear! ' But near his ears, above his brains, is where Fred's underwear remains. At night when Fred goes back to bed, he deftly plucks it off his head. His mother switches off the light

Clouds And Waves

Mother, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me- 'We play from the time we wake till the day ends. We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon.' I ask, 'But how am I to get up to you? ' They answer, 'Come to the edge of the earth, lift up your hands to the sky, and you will be taken up into the clouds.' 'My mother is waiting for me at home, 'I say, 'How can I leave her and come? ' Then they smile and float away. But I know a nicer game than that, mother.

Dora Diller

'My stomach's full of butterflies! ' lamented Dora Diller. Her mother sighed. 'That's no surprise, you ate a caterpillar! '

My Mother

Who sat and watched my infant head When sleeping on my cradle bed, And tears of sweet affection shed? My Mother. When pain and sickness made me cry, Who gazed upon my heavy eye, And wept for fear that I should die? My Mother.

Looking For A Mother

If it is difficult to feel your mother Hard to bear and uneasy to share See only the animals around you Relation between mother and cub How they behave for care and love That can make you believe the truth, Just same way your mother loved At early that little you were aged Neither you did nor knew anyhow

The Sonnet-Ballad

Oh mother, mother, where is happiness? They took my lover's tallness off to war, Left me lamenting. Now I cannot guess What I can use an empty heart-cup for. He won't be coming back here any more. Some day the war will end, but, oh, I knew When he went walking grandly out that door That my sweet love would have to be untrue. Would have to be untrue. Would have to court Coquettish death, whose impudent and strange

Mother Doesn't Want A Dog

Mother doesn't want a dog. Mother says they smell, And never sit when you say sit, Or even when you yell. And when you come home late at night And there is ice and snow, You have to go back out because The dumb dog has to go. Mother doesn't want a dog.

I Come From There

I come from there and I have memories Born as mortals are, I have a mother And a house with many windows, I have brothers, friends, And a prison cell with a cold window. Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls, I have my own view, And an extra blade of grass. Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words, And the bounty of birds,

Baby's Way

If baby only wanted to, he could fly up to heaven this moment. It is not for nothing that he does not leave us. He loves to rest his head on mother's bosom, and cannot ever bear to lose sight of her. Baby know all manner of wise words, though few on earth can understand their meaning. It is not for nothing that he never wants to speak. The one thing he wants is to learn mother's words from mother's lips. That is why he looks so innocent. Baby had a heap of gold and pearls, yet he came like a beggar

To My Mother

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above, The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of 'Mother,' Therefore by that dear name I long have called you- You who are more than mother unto me, And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you In setting my Virginia's spirit free. My mother- my own mother, who died early, Was but the mother of myself; but you

Mother O' Mine

If I were hanged on the highest hill, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! I know whose love would follow me still, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! If I were drowned in the deepest sea, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! I know whose tears would come down to me, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

Infant Sorrow

My mother groaned, my father wept, Into the dangerous world I leapt; Helpless, naked, piping loud, Like a fiend hid in a cloud. Struggling in my father's hands, Striving against my swaddling bands, Bound and weary, I thought best To sulk upon my mother's breast.

Authorship

You say that father write a lot of books, but what he write I don't understand. He was reading to you all the evening, but could you really make out what he meant? What nice stores, mother, you can tell us! Why can't father write like that, I wonder? Did he never hear from his own mother stories of giants and fairies and princesses? Has he forgotten them all? Often when he gets late for his bath you have to and call him

Night Of The Scorpion

I remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice. Parting with his poison - flash of diabolic tail in the dark room - he risked the rain again. The peasants came like swarms of flies

A True Mother's Love

A mother's love is consistent and patient, it will never fade. A mother's love is warm and compassionate, even in the shade. A mother's love will always help you through the weakest hours. A mother's love is always like a bouquet of flowers. A mother's love is strong and will never steer

The Iron Bridge

I am standing on a disused iron bridge that was erected in 1902, according to the iron plaque bolted into a beam, the year my mother turned one. Imagine- a mother in her infancy, and she was a Canadian infant at that, one of the great infants of the province of Ontario. But here I am leaning on the rusted railing looking at the water below,

Disobedience

James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree Took great Care of his Mother, Though he was only three. James James Said to his Mother, "Mother," he said, said he; "You must never go down to the end of the town,

Mother India

Mother India Mother - The divine Mother, On the road to save Her Child, With compassion deep She moves, making her Foolish child to vote. India - Mother India on the road, She declares war for her child, Implores him to vote for his life.