Mother, Some Notes... Poem by RIC BASTASA

it is your day mother
i know how hard it was
when i was a child
hardheaded i was
more than a rock

all your life you love me
more than the rest of the siblings
you did not say it
your actions did
all the time

perhaps we belong to the tradition
of the unspoken
we never confessed our love for each other
you hold me by the hand
and carried me
there are no words
no instructions
you must have been thinking about so many other things
to give
me the best

i have seen the best in you
grandma despised you
but papa insisted on loving you
and you had kids
and you had all those
surviving years


how swift time with all its wings flew
when you were gone
i see how you closed your eyes gently
as i held your hand

i assured you
there are angels
and that light
shall guide you

you had a happy death
and i do not have any regret

you are happier there
i know, dearest mother.