Mother

I was three years old, my sister four.

Mom was pregnant with our little brother.

Our mother wore a beautiful dark blue

Spotty dress. Laura wore green and I pink.

…

A couple of years later, we baked with

Mom. Laura’s cupcakes were perfect, mine blue.

…

Becoming a mum in my early twenties

Changed everything. But then, doesn’t it

always? My eldest son just turned 17.

The first two years were like one thousand,

And no time at all, were the next 15.

…

It snowed today: the daffodils yellow,

bowed under the burden of heavy white.

It is spring and Mother’s Day soon. New

life appears from the ground up, but winter

isn’t quite ready to loosen its grip.

…

I have four children, but only two are

on Earth.

Mums are the keepers of memories,

Hope and grief. Side by side, they grow.