A Mother's Day Poem

by Randy Ark, Vietnam 1968-69, Medical Corpsman, 1st Infantry Division

Mother’s Day Poem

As a man who’s taken on some years, I look back upon my time.
And though weathered by experience, My thoughts are more defined.

Of all my life’s amazements, And there’s more than just a few.
There’s something in particular, That amazes me anew.

There’s a word that soothes the savage beast, And comforts those that mourn.
Always a willing sacrifice, Since the day that we were born.

That special word is “mother”, God’s love expressed so fair.
A creature like no other, Full of love, and warmth, and care.

There’s something supernatural, That binds a mother to her child.
And a strength that comes from deep within, When she wants to cry aloud.

I’ll never know how many tears, My mother cried for me.
It must have seemed like a thousand years, With her son across the sea.

As a younger child, I often cried, For “mom”, in times of pain,
And I heard that word from soldier’s mouths, On the fields where they were slain.

There’s something in a mother’s touch, that nothing can compare.
Wiping all our tears away, When no one seems to care.

And it’s a mother’s arms that seem to know, Just when to hold on tight.
To shelter you from things unseen, That scare you in the night.

Don’t try to hide your pain or grief, A mother’s eyes will know.
She feels the hurt you feel inside, But it will never show.

She gives her love and serves you, In so many different ways.
A mother is a precious gift, To last us all our days.

At the end of the day with things put away, after kisses for daughter and son,
a heavenly chorus resounds in a song, with the words of our Father,  “Well done”.