I stood there absorbed by the crimson rose one of the church kids had given me. “What would you like to do for Mother’s Day,” my husband asked.
“I’d like to take the flower,” I said.
So we drove out to Woodbine. As we walked through the wrought iron gate and down the stone path, the deep azure of the sky enveloped me. The sun shone bright, yet a knifelike cold pierced my skin and lungs.
When we reached the site, we found a blanket of buttercups and clusters of tiny blue flowers. A gift. Planted by the One who knew I would understand. Not everyone would know the name of the small blue flower. And no one else could know that buttercups always made her laugh. Those things along with the contrast of the sun's brilliance to the frigid air began to swirl around inside and form into the thoughts below. Someday I will write “Buttercup Laughter.” But for now, even these years later, I still cannot do it.
Mother’s Day
Posies by a gravestone peeking from its side,
Tiny dots of blue with yellow deep inside
Little band of color stands in shades of green
Planted by a Hand that for now remains unseen.
And on this day the bright sun
barely warms my heart
The bright sun that hangs in heaven….
where You once hung suspended
And it could not warm Your heart
The bright sun could not warm Your broken heart…
© Copyright Glyn Baker and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
I stand here by the graveside, a mother lost in pain
yearning to see her child dance lightly once again.
Longings fill this place with empty solitude
where hope is whispered silently through periwinkle blue.
“Forget-me-not,” the flowers whisper;
as if I could forget
your love and lilting laugh
and carefree dance
“Forget-me-not,” they whisper
as a breeze strokes their blue heads
And I think of another One
whose love I’ve known
“Remember Me,” You cry through flowers like the star
that hung once in the night for another mother’s child
That child, You were also born to die too soon
while a sword pierced her heart with an empty solitude.
“Forget-Me-not,” Your flowers whisper
as if I could forget
Your love and joyful laugh
and steady hands....
“Forget-Me-not,” You whisper
And pain stabs my heart
To think I could forget the One
Whose gentle love envelops me
And on this day the bright sun
barely warms my heart
The bright sun that hangs in heaven….
Where You once hung suspended
And it could not warm Your heart
No, it could not warm Your heart
The bright sun did not warm Your broken heart…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the lyrics version see Mother's Day
Jean Watson helped me hammer the poem into a format more suited to a song. Then she wrote music for it. To hear her sing the whole song you can go here.