Love Your Mothers

~Jeanette Iskat @ www.facebook.com/jeanette.iskat

Love for all the mothers
the grandmothers
all your mothers
all our mothers
good
bad
perfect
imperfect
human.

Love
the step mothers
the foster mothers
the run away mothers
the absent mothers
the baby mama mothers
the girls not-ready-to-be-mothers
the girls too-ready-to-be-mothers
the girls letting-another-woman-be-mother-mothers
the would-be mothers
the never-will-be-mothers
the never-wanted-to-be-mothers
the never-can-be-mothers.

the sisters
the aunts
the aunties
the misses
the nannies
the amahs
the nurses
the nuns
the attendants
the teachers
the substitutes
instead of mothers.

the bad broke-your-children mothers
the bad were-broken-by-their-mothers mothers
the didn’t-protect-you-mothers
the didn’t-protect-themselves-mothers
the-keeping-the-silence-mothers
the-creating-the-silences-mothers
the-making-the hate-mothers
the drugs-instead-of-food-mothers
the wrong-instead-of-right-mothers

the working-too-hard-mothers
the working-too hard-at-what-they-hate-for-you-without-telling-you-it-mothers
the working-at-what-they-hate-and-making-sure-you-know-it-mothers
the-cleaning-up-after-strangers-mothers
the-holding-other-children-instead-of-you-mothers
but-they’re-still-your-mother-mothers

the putting-you-through-school-mothers
the keeping-their-word-mothers
the doing-the-best-they-can-mothers
the stretching-it-past-breaking mothers
the getting-you-those-shoes-somehow mothers
the right-instead-of-wrong-mothers
the loving-all-their-children-mothers
the loving-all-the-children-mothers
the-hope-I-can-be-like you-someday-mothers
and-they’re-still-your-mother-mothers

the story-telling-mothers
the pancakes-for-dinner-mothers
the-child-support-didn’t-come-again-mothers
the pawn-the-ring-again-mothers
the Sunday-funnies-as-wrapping-paper-mother
the-how-many-cupcakes-for-a-bake-sale-when-there-is-nothing-here-to-bake-mothers
the-make-you-hug-til-you-ain’t-angry-no-more-mothers

the laughing-til-it-hurts-mothers
the crying-til-it-hurts-mothers
the-too-tired-to-laugh-or-cry-mothers
the holding-it-all-in-mothers
the letting-it-all-the-way-out-mothers

the mothers behind walls
the mothers behind borders
the mothers behind barricades
the mothers behind river lines
the mothers behind ocean currents

the mothers past your
walls
borders
barricades
lines
currents.

the woman in that old picture
the woman inside all of our mothers
the woman you don’t know
the woman before you
the woman
you forget
at the instant
she became
mother
to you.

Love for
birth mothers
ultimate mothers
mother nature
mother earth
grandmother moon

Love for them
all
and
love
for the fathers
who are also mothers, too.