loss, and remembrance

loss(läs,lôs), and remembrance(rəˈmembrəns)

Mother still loves

By Henry H. Walker

today, thirteen years ago,
Mother took a breath(breTH),
and, then, never took another,
her body gave up the ghost(gōst),
yet her soul(sōl) still lives(liv,līv)

in the Cabin(ˈkabən) we maintain(mānˈtān) and share as portal(ˈpôrtl) into nature,
in the dishes we cook according to her teachings,
in the boundless(ˈboun(d)ləs) love the parent gives the child,
the teacher gives the student,
in the laugh I give when a moment is more lemon(ˈlemən) than sugar(ˈSHo͝ogər),
in the understanding that sugar needs lemon,
that flavor(ˈflāvər) needs the tart(tärt),

Mother believed that we can be better,
that we should be better,
that our politics(ˈpäləˌtiks) should be of the way
Jesus(ˈjēzəs) called us to be, with love,
that a good heart, plus good food,
can knit(nit) us together,
when money, greed(grēd), selfishness(ˈselfiSHnəs), and hate(hāt)
work to pull us asunder(əˈsəndər),

I choose love and optimism(ˈäptəˌmizəm),
even when the tribal(ˈtrībəl) and the lesser(ˈlesər) pull at us,

like Mother, I seek a better world for all.

https://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/2018/12/loss-and-remembrance.html