mama

heres to family
to love and peace
and being sunburnt
to chinese for dinner
dessert for dinner, really
here's to feeling safe and warm
with the chenille blanket we've had for years.
shades of royal purple and vermillion and forest green
and truly isnt that what mothers are for?
tintin marathons and iced-ginger-honey-black-tea.
here's to unconditional love, to boundless happiness
to mirrors that reflect only what we want to see
and nothing more
to golden eyeshadow and sandals.
the kind roman gladiators once wore.
to step into their shoes for a night.
to dressing up for dinner
to long car rides
and longer bike rides
on even longer dirt roads
and what about wanting?
only the best, not for yourself, of course
but for the others, for the ones you'd do anything for
yes, its all part of this story.
here is to gardening and landscaping
digging and planting
fertilizing and then the abundance
here is to manual labor and sweating
to a dirt streaked face, a grimy body
and then when the sun has begun to set
showering and watching the water turn brown,
and when thats over,
the thunderstorms and the lightning,
black currant scented candles,
and black currant on toast,

but the best part,
was doing it with you,
yes, with you mama
and with everyone,
once separate but now whole.
love is abundant. love endureth when all else fails.