Thursday, January 27, 2022

Like a Mother

 



Loving the world means loving the wobbles
along with the wonders:
the bad news trickled throughout the day,
the fog lifting off to reveal blue sky and warm sun,
the boat that ran aground yesterday in the harbour,
six people rescued, four in hospital,
and the green shoots poking up through the ground
with the promise of spring.

Loving the world means growing hearts big enough
to bear witness, encompass and advocate for change
(so much that needs fixing):
the heartbreak of cruelty to animals:
the man who killed his neighbour's beloved dog
for entering his yard; the terrible pain of factory farms;
the accelerating climate crisis, with so many humans
and animals suffering; refugees in tents in wintertime,
hungry children without beds, without books.

It's hard to find the words, sometimes.
Let me love the world like a mother,
accepting the bad with the good,
always hoping for better, trusting the good
will outweigh the bad, even when 
it feels like the opposite is true.
Let me love the world like a mother,
for all of its wonders, even though
there are so many days
when it's
breaking my heart.


Inspired by "Rain, on New Year's Eve" by Maggie Smith. The italicized words are hers.


shared with earthweal's open link.

6 comments:

  1. So true, I think. If we love the world like a mother we accept both the good and the bad. And just like when one loves children, loving the earth sometimes is heart-breaking as well.

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  2. Life is filled with good and bad, we just have to keep loving and believing...

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  3. To sing mother earth, one needs a mother's voice and heart big enough for terrors as well as delights. And a full heart is bigger than contentment and still loves.

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  4. I think it's all anyone can hope to do, Sherry, even to the point of 'letting go with love' when we know we can't do anything more...

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  5. This poem poses some very interesting philosophical questions....Cruelty should never be tolerated imo...there are degrees of bad ...thought provoking

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  6. So that's it! As if all life were our children! "Let me love the world like a mother" . . . Maybe this is clearer sooner to those who have actually been mother! But wait, let me think of my students, of my stagings and other performances. That's my experience of mothering, and I know you speak true. True. Giving love even in second chances over and over again.

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