POEM - NURSING HOME

 

My Mother died on 5 March 1994. She had been suffering from a form of mental deterioration and the last two or three years of her life were spent in a Nursing Home nearby where I could easily visit her. In the final stage of her life the staff gave her a baby doll to play with and one day when I went to see her she was cuddling it and obviously getting much pleasure from it. It was pretty clear to me where her mind was at that time.

NURSING HOME

I watched my Mother hold me tenderly
Into her once full breasts,
Making sounds of comfort
While she snugged me down for sleep.
One arm of mine stuck up,
Would not go down
Until she grasped the simple joint
And brought the limb beneath the blanket
So that all of me was warm and cuddled.
As she looked lovingly upon her baby son,
I watched her in her play
Of fifty years or so ago.
I watched her live again that time

And wept to see that only this remained.