VERSE| FOR MY MOTHER ON HER BIRTHDAY 🌺

July has come round again 
Another birthday
It’s been twelve whole years
Since you went away
A decade and two years it’s been
And I want to tell you how these years
Have touched me
After you said your last goodbye

The first two were unhappy, desolate
I had regular nightmares
I’d go to sleep thinking of you
And of those last few difficult days
The ritual memory was oddly cathartic
Even as it hurt, cutting deep
Ripping my heart out every night
Before I lay me down to some semblance of sleep

And then through some blessed interlacing
Of our two realms you came to me in a dream
You were well again
You were whole and you were happy
And I held your hands
Even as you held mine
We laughed with joy as we whirled around

And since then
My broken heart has gently
Laced its red-blue pieces together
With gold and purple lines
I now find you in visions and dreams
That are more serene
So real, that when I awake
You are somehow still around
A heartbeat away, an echo warm and sweet
A lingering touch upon my cheek

I look at your picture on my phone
My heartstrings wrap around your form
It’s the next best thing to perfection
In our world of love and loss
And so here you are shimmering
Lighting up my memories again
Twinkling eyes smiling away
Making me catch my breath
As I whisper dearest, a happy birthday.
Image: Yvonne Hemingway

VERSE | HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST ONE 🌺

There is a little photograph 
That sits upon my shelf
In its monochromatic hues it holds
My world in its sweet self

A vision sits inside the frame
A smile lights up her face
She’s looking out from beaming eyes
In another time and place

Even as I look at her
She reaches inside my heart
Pulling at blue-purple strings
Of memories tender and soft

I can almost feel the comforting
Gentleness of her hand
It lies there like a lilly
On the railing where she stands

I wish sometimes for magic
An alchemy of the souls
for a few quicksilver moments
Your beautiful hands to hold

Then I close my eyes and reach
For your vital warmth once more
I’m wrapped up in nostalgia
For times and places from before

Your photo sits on my shelf, Mama
It’s full of your love and grace
On most days I just reach within
And you hold me in your loving embrace.

VERSE | FOR MY MOTHER, ON HER BIRTHDAY 🌺

It’s your birthday today 
And I wanted to say
That I wish I could see you
For a little while today
That your essence surrounds me
On all of my days
Even if you are a breath or eons away
That I love you
And I miss you everyday.
Even if my words limited as they are
While making their cosmic way to you
Should lose their form, be strewn apart
That the love in them still finds its way to you

I hope that you are happy and you’re well
I hope you still have your special sparkle
I hope you’re still lighting up lives
As a friend, a mentor, a spirit divine
I hope your radiant glow also reaches within
To make your big, lovely heart sing

My dearest I hope you get this message of mine
In these words, on the breeze or in the warm sunshine
My memories of you are full of joy
Uplifting, heartwarming, they don’t usually hurt
But today thoughts of you that flit through my mind
Bring a sweet achiness to my throat

It’s your birthday dear Mama and I wanted to say
May the choicest of blessings fill your time and space.