Thursday, May 6, 2010

Happy Mother's Day






The Happiest Day
by Linda Pastan

It was early May, I think
a moment of lilac or dogwood
when so many promises are made
it hardly matters if a few are broken.
My mother and father still hovered
in the background, part of the scenery
like the houses I had grown up in,
and if they would be torn down later
that was something I knew
but didn't believe. Our children were asleep
or playing, the youngest as new
as the new smell of the lilacs,
and how could I have guessed
their roots were shallow
and would be easily transplanted.
I didn't even guess that I was happy.
The small irritations that are like salt
on melon were what I dwelt on,
though in truth they simply
made the fruit taste sweeter.
So we sat on the porch
in the cool morning, sipping
hot coffee. Behind the news of the day--
strikes and small wars, a fire somewhere--
I could see the top of your dark head
and thought not of public conflagrations
but of how it would feel on my bare shoulder.
If someone could stop the camera then...
if someone could only stop the camera
and ask me: are you happy?
perhaps I would have noticed
how the morning shone in the reflected
color of lilac. Yes, I might have said
and offered a steaming cup of coffee.


40 comments:

  1. Happy Mother's Day Witch. You are one awesome momma.
    Love, jc

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  2. Happy Mother's Day, sweetie! Love the pics, love the poem. (You always did like a good Pastan poem, didn't you? She's great. Like you.) And your babies? Gorgeous.

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  3. I look at these pictures and I am reminded that you were a cheerleader. Also, motherhood appears to agree with you. Happy Mothers Day.

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  4. Good heavens you're gorgeous, TKW!

    (Love the poem too.)

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  5. You look wonderfully serene in those pictures.

    Happy Mother's Day!

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  6. What a beautiful poem (and photos). Happy Mother's Day dear friend!

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  7. Very nice - photos and poem.

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  8. Wow, what a beautiful poem! It's truly a gift! Thank you.

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  9. Sigh ... lovely poems, lovely photographs, lovely YOU.

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  10. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

    And a very happy Mama's Day to you, Kitch.

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  11. BEAUTIFUL photos. Beautiful poem. It's so real, isn't it?

    Have a great Mother's Day, TKW! You soooo deserve it. And I hope someone cooks for you on Sunday! (I would, but then again, well...you know my shortcomings...)

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  12. Absolutely beautiful...and sweet pics as well. happy Mother's Day to you!

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  13. What priceless photos of both of you, just exquisite. And the poem -- my writing hat is off to you, Kitch. Like a spare melody, counting, every word.

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  14. Loved this post! Happy Momma Day to you! :D

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  15. Happy Mother's Day to one of my favorite bloggin' mommas! You are an amazing mother and this is such a beautiful post! Have a happy, happy day!

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  16. Such a touching post and ohmygosh, what incredible photos! Real treasures.

    I hope the girls and awesome stepson make it a fabulous day for you.

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  17. Thanks, everyone. I hope you all are spoiled ROTTEN this weekend?

    And Ink, you know me so well. I love Pastan--cannot resist her--even after she made me cry at BreadLoaf! Man, she's a crank. But a brilliant poet.

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  18. Lovely pictures, beautiful words...

    Wishing you a day of happiness, rest and worshipping of you...

    Have a wonderful Mother's Day, Kitch!

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  19. The salt on the melon does indeed make it taste all the sweeter. Happy Mother's Day to you, Kitch! (I hope there is zero meat loaf involved in your weekend.)

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  20. Beautiful words that remind all us moms how our children make our lives so wondrously special...every day!

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  21. wow!
    so beautiful picture i love it
    best of luck

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  22. I'm happy that this post and poem just shone on my Saturday morning. Happy Mother's Day to you!

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  23. So sweet.

    Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

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  24. Love these pictures and love the poem. Happy Mother's Day to you!!

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  25. Happy Mothers Day Mamma!
    Precious pictures

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  26. Beautiful!

    Happy Mother's Day to YOU.

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  27. I'm still mad about your Breadloaf experience. But...proud of you, too, because you WENT!

    Hope YOU are getting spoiled rotten this weekend. xoxo

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  28. Beautiful! The photos and the poem. Happy Mother's Day to you!!

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  29. Happy Mother's Day, I hate that you looked that good after birth, I was still read and bloated months after!

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  30. Look at that Miss D - just storing up her baby energy to run your household once she learned to talk (and yell!)

    Lovely photos. Happy Mother's Day!

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  31. this is my first time at your site and I will be back. I am taken with the way you use words...like "salt on melon" and the bit about the children having such shallow roots that they are easily transplanted. Such images will be with me all day, I'm sure. Wonderful for Mother's Day.

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  32. Lovely poem, so visual and tangible. My oldest son has sturdy roots, yet shallow and strong enough to transplant in the home with his new wife. I don't think he's realized he's left an empty spot in my garden - but I remember:)

    Happy Mother's Day!

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  33. Such great pictures! I hope you were treated like a queen today... you deserve it!

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  34. Hope you had a great day, TKW! I love the poems and the pictures. But I had to look very closely at the first one. Is that your mom? I had to turn my head to look at it sideways to make sure it wasn't actually Barbara Eden.

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  35. Love this. These lines grabbed me: "The small irritations that are like salt/on melon were what I dwelt on,/though in truth they simply/made the fruit taste sweeter." So very true.

    That photo made me smile from ear to ear.

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