I had found this poem online and wanted to share it with you. Being a caregiver to people whom I was not related to, I found so many different family dynamics. This is one dynamic I thought of many times. I saw so many children place their loved ones with me and disappear. Reading this brought some of those feelings back that I experienced.
The Forgotten Mother
© RUBY LATIMER EDWARDS
A gray old woman sits all alone
Unloved, uncherished and unknown.
Sitting beside her broken door.
Dreaming of days past long ago,
When children played about her knee
Filling the air with childish glee,
Tended by her with loving care.
Knowing the blessing of a Mother's prayer.
But now they have gone, each to his life
A girl to her husband, a boy to his wife,
Forgetful are they of her who sits here
Silently wiping a tricking tear,
For striving for things in a life so brief
Blind their poor eyes to a dear Mother's grief.
But does she upbraid them in word or in mind.
Nor does their neglect to her seem unkind.
She'll forgive and forget all unkindness they've shown
This poor old mother who sits alone.
Unloved, uncherished and unknown.
Sitting beside her broken door.
Dreaming of days past long ago,
When children played about her knee
Filling the air with childish glee,
Tended by her with loving care.
Knowing the blessing of a Mother's prayer.
But now they have gone, each to his life
A girl to her husband, a boy to his wife,
Forgetful are they of her who sits here
Silently wiping a tricking tear,
For striving for things in a life so brief
Blind their poor eyes to a dear Mother's grief.
But does she upbraid them in word or in mind.
Nor does their neglect to her seem unkind.
She'll forgive and forget all unkindness they've shown
This poor old mother who sits alone.
Source: The Forgotten Mother, Aging Poems http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/family/poetry.asp?poem=2464#ixzz0lzSSZ1Tp
The link above has other poems that you may enjoy.
Take care caregivers!
