dVerse Quadrille #44/ Kick --2017 PAD Chapbook Challenge November/ Writer's Digest Poets Aside -- In Praise of my Mother

Kick

Kicking and screaming

I was brought into life

Not much has changed

So much I resist                                                    

Still kicking and screaming

Sometimes life can be a kick in the pants

Death no better

I get a kick out of you

Still kicking and screaming

November 6, 2017

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IN PRAISE OF MY MOTHER

in pRaise of my mother            a tiny woMan                           from a large irish family

who came to texas                    in 1848                                                there were three brOthers

one settled new york               and two came to texas              they owned a woolen mIll

in their home counTry             ireLand                                                my grEat grandFather

farmed cotTon                         i was told                                 he had 50 slaves

the sins of the father                 are ours to keep                       it was not unusual

it happened in those days         he married a gerMan girl          whose father was a doctor

they eloped on their horses       there was no minister in their county    they had eleven children

they were religious people        and then there was my mother              the baby                      

of her family                            her closest sibling                                 was 17 years older       

when i was little                       my mother sewed my clothes                hers was a tiny stitch

she lived the life                       of her time                                           married           

her life was home and family…           and the church                         she was kind and nurturing

when i came home from school           mother was always there           a wonderful cook        

loved poetry                             she died at 96                                       a life cut short             

by my meaSure                        i miss her everyDay                  how often i have gOne to the phOne

only to remember                     my mother is no longer here                 i write in praise of my mother

November 6, 2017

Note:  I am finding words within words:  raise, man, ill, others, man, sure, day, one, one.  I will use these words to create another poem.