A Boat For Mother On Her Day

by @Reilley
(Dedham, MA)

Go deep into the woods, Mother;
Find the birch, bending with thick green and birdsong.
See the beauty that is there, before your heart can adorn
With soft memory, a child, a babe in arms,
Toddling faster than time allows,
Running naked into traffic, talking late, blooming early.

For you I have carved this thought, polished it rare,
Breathed in the yellow dust that fell like rain on skin.
I have built you a boat, to carry you back to me
Back when I had yet to cause you tears,
Or cost you sleepless nights.
Before policemen called you to collect me,
Before I could be caught doing things that embarrass,
A boat long enough for you to lay inside, and be happy.

For you, mother, I would live another life
One that hurt you less, and though I would not be
Whom time has whittled me away to be,
I would be yours, I would find a way to breathe.
My respect for you is a wide foamy sea, dark blue and gray
And what I know of colors, any colors at all, I learned from you