An animated Mother's Day poem

Fudge - animated poetry (From the Wild: a collection of original poetry)

Sometimes you look forward to a holiday or special occasion. Other times you brace for it. Mother’s Day is a bit of both.

It’s like driving with one foot on the gas, the other on the brake. You want to go there but something holds you back.

It’s like remembering that day you went to pick up the phone and realized she was no longer available to pick up on the other end.

About a month or so ago, I received a notification from an email list saying they were going to start promoting Mother’s Day and I could opt out of those emails, they could help. How thoughtful.

But I didn’t take up the offer or unsubscribe.

I think it’s important to celebrate Mother’s Day, even when she’s gone.

In fact, if you have a mother or are a mother, you deserve to enjoy this day to the hilt! And, if you wouldn’t mind, celebrate a bit for me and for everyone else who no longer has a mother walking on this earth.

If you still have a mother to hug, then hug your mom twice: once because she’s your mom, the second time for those of us who no longer have a mom to hug. Thank you!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Fudge

I see my mother in a pot of fudge,
a hot, heavy pan and rhythmic wooden spoon.

Smiling and winking in the thickening sweetness
that sucks the air as the spoon comes up for breath
then back again into the heat for another beating.

The hot, round music of anticipation when you dig
your bottom teeth into the hardening sugar
and lick the spoon with your prickly burnt tongue.

It lasts two lifetimes
one for you,
the other for when she is gone.¹

1. Fudge is published in “From the wild: a collection of original poems” (2016) and was originally published in Open Heart Forgery (2011: Halifax, Nova Scotia).