Mother’s day poetry wanted
May 11, 2007 By: almostgotit Category: books, humor, poetry, parenting, writers, Mothers Day, Billy CollinsI have a dear friend who lives too far away, but pops in and out of my life once or twice a year, usually by email. She just sent me a lovely Billy Collins poem in honor of Mother’s Day. It’s called “The Lanyard,” and is part of his latest collection, The Trouble with Poetry. Here’s just part of it:
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
You can see the text of the whole poem here on NPR (and listen to an NPR interview with Billy Collins as a bonus!)
Do you have any other Mother’s Day poems to share? Please leave a comment with a link so we can share it/them together this weekend.
And speaking of Billy Collins: here’s an animated video-version of his delightful poem, Forgetfulness (click here)
Even better is this gorgeous, gorgeous video of Billy Collins poem, On Turning Ten (click here)
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Related posts:
The Baby: A Mother’s Day Poem
Happy (snort!) Mother’s Day (A video. A muffin. A cat’s butt…)
