The Smartest Lady I Ever Knew

"I Remember Mama"

Freestyle poetry, also known as free verse, is poetry that doesn’t play by the rules —the poems have no set rhyme or rhythm, but are still considered as a valid artistic expression.

It is sometimes thought to be a modern form of poetry, but free verse has actually been around for hundreds of years.

With free verse, there is no pattern for writing a poem, until the poet creates one. Without set rules, the poet is free to decide where to break a poem into stanzas of two or more lines, or with each new thought, almost like creating paragraphs.

I Remember Mama

I remember Mama,
blowing bubble gum bubbles
to entertain us
while she ironed.

I was too young for school,
Sesame Street wasn’t invented yet
the rain was pouring outside,
and I was awed.

I remember Mama,
sewing into the night
patching my favorite cutoffs
'just one more time'

or putting pockets on pants
because my little brother adored them
when she had to get up early for work,

and I can still hear her words,
‘There’s all kinds of ways
to say ‘I love you.’”

I remember Mama,
teaching us beauty on the inside
was more important
than beauty on the outside and

“A kind word to a stranger
might be the only kind word
they heard all day. Remember,
everybody is someone.”

… and how good it felt
finding out she was right.

I remember Mama
saying, “Hold onto your dreams,
make them happen,
and never say, ‘I can’t’.”

and how funny I thought it was
when she told us,
“The world is your watermelon.
Grab it and take a bite.”

I remember Mama,
who taught us best by example
with her unconditional love.

“Love isn’t love ‘til it’s given away
and it’s in the giving we find
love does come back ten-fold.”

I remember Mama
teaching us, “Sometimes,
crying is all we can do
when love is too big for words.”

and, “When we stop expecting
someone to be perfect,
we can start to love them
for who they really are.”

I remember, Mama. 
I truly do remember.

-*-

[From the book, “Anatomy of a Poet”, by C.J. Heck]
["I Remember Mama", published by invitation in Steel Point Quarterly, Spring 2002]

Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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