Mother's Day Salute
Mrs. Cardinal is sitting on her nest outside my dining room window.
Mr. Cardinal brings her snacks from time to time.
She sits patiently through the driving rain,
Impassively through the bright sunny days,
Waiting for new life to crack its way out of her tiny eggs.
Once I was pregnant with new life, in my own mammalian way—
Swollen belly receiving vigorous kicks from inside,
A future soccer player eager to get out and run.
It’s not easy being a mother,
But it’s the most precious job in the world.
As Mrs. Cardinal shows, there’s a tremendous selflessness to it—
You put the needs of your offspring ahead of whatever desires you might have
To play, to get out and enjoy life in your own way.
Humans take a long time to rear, and yet in the end, when you look back,
it all seems to have gone by in a flash,
And here you are at the other end of life, perhaps welcoming the next generation,
Your children’s children…or even your grandchildren’s children…
As the unbroken chain of life moves on into the future.
Last night my father, well into his 9th decade of life,
Confessed he feared for his great-grandchild’s future.
It’s probably been the rare generation that has not feared what the future might bring.
Change is accelerating now.
None of us can keep up with all the technological advances in every field,
And the rapidly shifting planetary environment.
Change is the one constant, someone once said.
But no matter how much things change, we live one day at a time.
Mrs. Cardinal sits on her eggs.
Mothers wipe runny noses and make sandwiches.
Grandparents welcome the new generations with joy and trepidation.
So it has always been and so it will be…
Even if the humans and the birds give way to new Gaian creations.
Mother Gaia is our ultimate role model for motherhood.
She may tire but she never gives up.
She moves on implacably into the future that she co-creates with all Life in every moment.
To honor her on Mother’s Day is to recognize how much we owe her,
And all the mothers on this planet who serve as her disciples,
Too often unsung and unheralded, out of the public eye,
Quietly tending the future.
I salute you, Mothers of Planet Earth!
May your labor be honored today and every day
As you bring new generations out to play in the blessed light, air, earth and water
Of our beautiful home.
Come Riding & Writing in Iceland with me in June!
Because we have to get away from our desks and screens and have some fun in these challenging times!
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
The creative tonic of Iceland has to be experienced to be understood.
Come experience the body, mind and spirit glow that comes from Riding & Writing in good company in a beautiful place, warmly hosted by our friends Gudmar and Christina at Hestaland.
Click here to find out more and see beautiful photos from my past Riding & Writing trips to Iceland.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
I hope on this mother's day we can move beyond greeting-card platitudes to do the true, deep honoring you suggest in this poem. Thank you!