Hello Mother

(a villanelle for my mother Shirley)

by Cecil Smith

 

Hello Mother are you really there?

I hear a voice but it is dark as night,

A Mother's love does not fail or err.

 

A cut, a scrape, a bandage will repair,

As bedtime nears then out goes the light,

Hello Mother are you really there? 

 

Gently nudged from out the nest we share,

I spread my wings uncertain in my flight,

A Mother's love does not fail or err. 

 

I see her now in my child's eyes and hair,

Trying my best, this life is such a fight,

Hello Mother are you really there?

 

The roles are reversed, now she needs care,

Eyes are empty where they once glowed bright,

A Mother's love does not fail or err. 

 

One moment longer, at the stone I stare,

No clouds this day, the Sun casts warmth in light,

Hello Mother are you really there?

A Mother's love does not fail or err.