A baby’s hand around your thumb
is a moment to cherish always,
You know your heart’s been taken
she has you the rest of your days. Smiling at the wind, breeze in her hair,
reaching for things unknown.
That smile, those eyes, those tiny toes,
Hang onto it before she’s all grown.
Bottles and diapers, late nights awake
Rocking chair getting worn out…
These are times Mom’s would not trade
Even when she throws you a pout.
Scraped up knees, tears so true
as she begins to grow…
Trying to be so grown-up,
her independence shows.
School days come, off you go…
With tears, climb on the bus,
our hearts just ache…there goes my girl...
They don’t mind though… it’s us!
Coughs and colds and chicken pox,
bikes and Barbies and friends.
Easter Bunny, Santa Claus,
And all the latest trends.
Bible school, Preschool, Girl Scouts, too.
On and on it goes each year
her sweet voice saying, I love you, Mom!
As you try to fight back the tears.
Then all of a sudden comes the day,
you find the baby’s gone
And what you have is a teenager
With boys, and cars and songs.
Football games and dances,
Long hours on the phone,
Pretty gowns and wrist corsage,
You find she’s never home.
When she had tiny little hands
and all she did was play,
All the sunshine in the world
warmed over you each day.
But if you aren’t looking she can disappear,
leaving in her place a shell,
here comes everything that you fear
and throws your world into hell.
The sparkle is gone, she smiles not at you,
She lies and cheats and steals.
Spends time with friends that are sneaky and shallow
And never says how she feels.
Her eyes are glassy, she slurs her words,
and stays out all night long.
She’s killing herself, taking you along
It’s so hard to still be strong.
The enemy that you cannot see
Is taking your beautiful child,
It picks her up and carries her away
To places that are ugly and vile.
She smiles at nothing, she’s dark and distant,
bitter and ugly and cold.
You try to see around what she’s doing
But it’s getting very old.
But you can’t give up, not now or ever,
You’ve come too far to turn back
Remember when she was a newborn,
and all the sleep that you lacked?
And the miles you put on that rocker,
And the blankie you looked everywhere for,
And her friends you loved like your own kids,
And you know that you would do more.
So take her hand while you still have the chance
and hold it really tight,
Pull her away from demons unseen,
that sneak up on you in the night.
Give her your love and walk the path,
even when she says no.
Be there until she finds her way,
through things that she doesn’t know.
Just like when she learned to walk
While hanging on to your thumb
Although she may have slipped from you,
Without her, you would be numb.
Be tough, be strong
and this too shall pass
with the blink of a babies eye.
I love my girls through all their mistakes
A Mother’s love will never die.
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Contributor's Note
This is a poem that I wrote a few years ago. Thought I would share it. It's a little gloomy, but that's how I felt then.
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