Mother, Before You Were My Mother
It is almost five months since I lost my beloved mother. It still hardly feels real at time. How can one so vibrant and full of energy be gone? I've come to realise that grieving and loss can be a long and complicated process.
I don't remember seeing this photo before, though of course I must have. I used it to write a ekelis poem. That is a poem based on a photograph. This photo was taken long before my mother was born, when she was a young woman living in London. It made me think of the life she had before me.
Mother – before she was my mother.
Mother - before she was my mother.
Dress-crowned.
Cheekbones firm like herPentecostal tongue.
Heart loving.
Orphaned young.
Mother – before she was my mother.
There –a mother of three.
Son-tired, God-inspired.
Hallelujah-heeled.
Mother – who became my mother
Head and handbag strong.
Slender eyes
Song wise.
Beautiful
Determined will.
This moment gone.
Staaaayyyyyyy!
Stand unfaded.
You are my mother still.
