In Memory of My Mother

Happy Mother's Day!

In Loving Memory
of my dear mother...

Frances Longo Walsh--1915-1966

OLD MOTHERS

Never had the opportunity--

missed the privilege

of doting upon my old mother.

Mother died

of a heart attack

at fifty-one

Watch with envy--

sweet old mothers

with rosy rouged cheeks

and charming smiles

carefully navigating

footed canes

or wheeled walkers

Dutiful daughters

accompany them

pleasantly

in doctor’s waiting rooms

taking their tweed coats

making small talk

about the grandchildren

and what Aunt So And So

will be serving

the church ladies for lunch

Blessed daughters

who left beds unmade

dishes in the sink

who listen attentively

to doctor’s instructions

see that Medicare

and supplementary insurances

are processed properly

who assist them

with their coats

and to their cars

stopping at pharmacies

on the way home

Maude Carolan

The above poem won an honorable mention in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest and was originally published in the "Paterson Literary Review."