A Kick To Jumpstart A Relationship Poem by Ricky Saikia

Our first contact was not what anyone would expect - it was not a kiss, not a sweet word or promise of love - but a kick, a kick, a kick, my soft thud that opens a floodgate of love and all things good, a kick that also opened to her a new hope and life she has prayed for.

Mom and dad would spend the night walking the lane of their future world with me, talking to me, and among themselves about how to herald me to the world, with dad sometimes putting his head on her abdomen just to listen and feel the beat of my heart. If lucky, he would even get a kick from me to inform him that I am listening in - with equal enthusiasm of my future life.

Some dads I heard would even play Beethoven or Mozart for their child just to make sure they are born with a better head over their shoulders or a genius!

And yes, a mom's love is vast as the ocean and does not stop at this world. Mom would even like a guardian angel do everything to make sure I walk the garden of heaven in the next - the umbilical cord is severed but not the heart and soul - that go beyond the imagination.

For the next 25 years after my appearance - I am her only son - whether it is a knock mom would sustain in her love and care for me - in my childhood years, in my school going years, in my adult years - she would always stand by me through thick and thin - righting even my teachers when they were at fault and putting my friends in their place when she thought they were bullying me.

For each of us, mom is that beacon of hope in the darkest hours, the light when the world comes tumbling down. She is someone we could hug for solace whether we are in the right or wrong. Her unconditional love for us is the dawn sun that shines to give us fresh hope each day.

It's mom who keeps me going, fuels the flame to light up the world for her, to do the best in everything I do for my friends, for my schools, for my work, for my country because my pride is her pride, my success her success, and her joy and happiness mine.

A relationship is never a bed of roses. We have fought, agreed and disagreed over all kinds of things - we hug, we laugh and we cry together but never hold grudges against each other.

Mom and me - there is just so much kick in this freewheeling and earth-shaking relationship.

The first kick she had from me is a promise that i would knock down any hurdle to make the world a better and happier place for her.