With my Mother in mind...

This is a piece that I wrote for my mother on Mother's Day back in 1995. I've revised it a little bit, but for most part it has remained intact. She has been on my mind lately, and her health has been in decline. This is my way to tell her I love her;

Reflections of my Mother

Selfless to a fault.
The rock, the mooring, the anchor–
of three men’s lives– on which we cast
our flailing, selfish selves.

You are always there– a lighthouse–
illuminating the way for vessels, (mere hulls of men
vacuous and dull) pointing the direction,
charting the proper course.

The years have done what years
only know to do; they pass and create change.
But you have defied the years. Stoic, strong
you have held, unmoved by the wind, the rain, the passing seasons.

We grow old all around you.
We are the coming winter weary, you are the eternal-ever spring.
The family grows, extends and takes on new faces.
And you with your lighthouse glow,
remain planted, always fixed– indefatigable, unflappable.