"Love Poem" By Jennie Linthorst (Happy Mother's Day!)

Love Poem

by Jennie Linthorst

I want to write a love poem

for the mother I am today.

I want to tell her it’s okay to have those days

when it hurts

as in the park today,

when she watched other three-year-old boys

move their bodies with ease,

his parents unaware

of brainpower the body must use

to accomplish such tasks.

I want to write a love poem to this mother

who is the very light in her son’s eyes.

I want her to notice how he leans his body closer to her lap,

one arm always attached,

held on to, protected.

I want her to witness the bond of mother to son,

to witness the perfection

of just that simple thing.

I want her to know that no one in this world

can alter, judge, assess, label,

or destroy that miracle.

I want to write a love poem to this mother

who sits in a chair tonight,

tired and frustrated.

I want her to remember these moments with clarity,

to remember that each day comes and goes.

To remember that the big things and little things

have turned out okay.

******

Thank you to Jennie Linthorst (mom to Graham from the movie Autisic Like: Graham's Story) for allowing me to reprint this poem.  Her entire collection of 61 poems (which are amazing), will be available for purchase this summer.

Happy Mother's Day my friends,

Hartley