Mother Poem by Shahida Latif

Mother: bounteous blessing,
A sheltering shield, fragrant flower,
Gurgling founting fountain of love,
Incarnated patience and sacrifice;
She cares least,
For her own appetite and dress,
When her own children remain,
Unfed, undressed.
She tosses on the bed,
When they are ill disposed,
She bleeds, receives pain,
When they are hit or tumbling fall.
She wraps them in her grace,
When calamities to them encroach.

Fortunate are those who find her,
In her dotage and patiently,
Serve, obey and adore,
And get her good wishes,
Being murmured upon her lips,
When she departs to the world next.