Mother's Day 2012

 While reading Facebook this morning, I was surprised at the amount of posts from young mothers, overwhelmed by the load of cares placed on them, and I thought of this poem. This is for all of you, young mother, mother of teens, empty nester, Nana, Granny or Grandma. God bless you all, and Happy Mother's Day!

A Mother’s Midnight Prayer

Lord,

Help me remember, when I feel it’s a chore,

the time will come when I’ll hold her no more

asleep on my chest (the crib refused,

the blanket, the pacifier, gone unused).

What better place is there to lay her head

than against my heart, my arms her bed?

For infants grow up and leave us behind

with only memories left to remind

us of midnight walking and predawn rocking,

of soft, helpless babies unable to sleep.

So, Lord, make me patient and keep me awake

while I cradle this child, and don’t let me take

for granted the moments I spend in the night

with this baby — Your gift, my joy, my delight.

c. 1998 by Jan Dunlap