Elaina, a RISE Housing and Support Services Supported Housing resident, shares this poem about her mother, who recently passed away. Elaina has always found solace in her writing, but after such a profound loss, she could not find the peace she needed when attempting to write as she usually would when turning to her best coping mechanism. Finally, the words of this beautiful poem came to her on Mother’s Day while remembering her mother.
“Stages in Time”
Her middle name was May,
born mid year, August, 1929.
Right at the beginning
of the great depression.
In beginning her young life,
she was taught to be humble.
Even though she was gifted, with both beauty and charm.
She was the 4th child
of five children born,
and the sister in the middle, chopping onions, even wood.
She believed in humility,
from the beginning.
Graceful under pressure,
known for her humanity.
While in her teens,
she met a handsome man,
and from the beginning,
they knew it was love.
He courted her properly,
then asked for her hand.
They were two young people,
Together…a new beginning.
With a lot of hard work, determination and love,
they built a middle class life, starting with few materials.
Thrice, she carried his baby. Sadly, only one survived.
He was the middle child,
yet, the only birth.
During her middle thirties,
motherhood was beckoning. Again, she answered the call.
Age, 6 months, I got a home.
Another new beginning,
with an adopted baby girl.
Blessed by family unification,
A never ending love.
Time virtually flew by,
her children had grown.
We had begun our families.
Grandkids smiles brought joy.
More years passed by,
So many precious memories,
but, as with any beginning,
There will also be an end.
Tragedy befell our family.
Mom lost her son in 2004.
6 short months passed,
her husband’s life ended.
Somehow, she soldiered on.
My mother, our families glue,
the very heartbeat,
Our own middle class hero.
Now, here I am, years later,
It’s my first mother’s day,
with no mother of my own.
A heartache with no end.
I can’t possibly fill her shoes
but, mom would tell me this,
it’s always hard to begin
but, the story must be told
Life truly is a circle,
full of new beginnings,
cake causes thicker middles,
and bigger rear ends.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
“HAPPY HEAVENLY MOTHER’S DAY. I LOVE AND MISS YOU!
Save a BIG piece of cake for me, we can share it when we meet again.”
Elaina has been writing poetry since she was 14. She took advanced literature classes in high school where she learned how to write poems.
Some of her poems were published in a local paper in Vermont where she grew up. In 2013, some of her poems were published in an anthology called Hear Me, See Me: Incarcerated Women Write.
The love of writing poetry has stayed with Elaina throughout her life and she has used it as a coping skill for many years.