Saturday, May 09, 2009

Mother & Me












She was an artist and a musician. She played a mean piano during the depression for feed-the-kitty dances. She painted landscapes and flowers, and did commercial art work. She designed the label for Joe Apple's Whiskey, and she was the model for the promotional ads for Joe Apple's EZ Tire Changer (so easy even a woman could do it!). She had red hair, freckles on her face, and green eyes. She loved life, and she had a great reverence and respect for all living things. I love her still!

(Eva Pearl Wolfe, October 15, 1909 - March 12, 1992)


THE GIFT

Because I did not know
'til now the depths of me,
and heights I never saw, until
the traces of my childhood past
bore witness how my mother gave to me
the world: in infant hands...
a star, a ship, a tree.

Now I lift my hand
and call upon her name.
"Mother, it is I! Your gift,
so dearly held was not given in vain!"
Because I know this now
I give you back the world you gave to me:
the sky, and seas, unbound and limitless,

and never small again.


(My big brother Gaylen wrote music for this, a lovely, rocking melody in a minor key. Made it beautiful! As a boy, he thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, more beautiful than movie stars! So she was.)



Happy Mother's Day to all of you, and to all your mother's, wherever they are!

7 comments:

paisley said...

happy mothers day to you too joyce.....

i just loved the little bit about your mother that preceded the poem. it was so intimate so loving.

christine said...

Your mother sounds like a very creative, loving, beautiful person. And she made you, poet and grandma extraordinaire!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hey Joyce,

You know my Dad's side had red hair and freckles, and now my daughter has the same red hair and freckles! She had many talents to be proud of! I loved the poem too!
Happy Mother's Day! :)

k said...

Joyce. A very happy Mother's Day to you, too.

Tammy Brierly said...

Joycee, this was very moving. Thank you for sharing this. XXOO

Anonymous said...

beautiful: post, poem, and pictures.

Kay Cooke said...

What a beautiful, loving tribute. Your mother certainly was beautiful. The poem is mighty!
My mother had red hair, freckles and green eyes too! (Still got the green eyes, but freckles mostly gone and red hair now white!)