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The Poem |
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"Mummy, look!" cried my daughter, Darla, pointing to a hawk soaring through the air. "Uh huh," I murmured, driving, lost in thought about the tight schedule of my day. Disappointment filled her face. "What's the matter, Sweetheart?" I asked, entirely dense. "Nothing," my seven-year-old said. The moment was gone. Near home, we slowed to search for the a deer that comes out from behind the thick mass of trees in the early evening. She was nowhere to be seen. "Tonight, she has too many things to do," I said. Dinner, baths and phone calls filled the hours until bedtime. "Come on, Darla, time for bed!" She raced past me up the stairs. Tired, I kissed her on the cheek, said prayers and tucked her in. "Mum, I forgot to give you something!" she said. My patience was gone. "Give it to me in the morning," I said, but she shook her head. "You won't have time in the morning!" she retorted. "I'll take time," I answered defensively. Sometimes no matter how hard I tried, time flowed through my fingers like sand in an hourglass, never enough. Not enough for her or for my husband. She wasn't ready to give up yet. She wrinkled her freckled little nose in anger and swiped away her chestnut brown hair. "No, you won't! It will be just like today when I told you to look at the hawk. You didn't even listen to what I said." I was too weary to argue; she hit too close to the truth. "Good night!" I shut her door with a resounding thud. Later though, her loveliness filled my vision as I thought about how little time we really had until she was grown and gone. My husband asked, "Why so glum?" I told him. "Maybe she's not asleep yet. Why don't you check?" I followed his advice, wishing it was my own idea. Gently opening her door the light from the window spilled over her sleeping form. In her hand, I could see the remains of a crumpled paper. Slowly I opened her palm to see what the item of our disagreement had been. Tears filled my eyes. She had torn into small pieces a big red heart with a poem she had written titled, "Why I Love My Mum!" I carefully removed the tattered pieces. Once the puzzle was put back into place, I read what she had written: “Although you're busy The words were an arrow straight to the heart. At seven years old, she had the wisdom of Solomon. Ten minutes later I carried a tray to her room, with two cups of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows. When I softly touched her smooth cheek, I could feel my heart burst with love. Her thick dark lashes lay like fans against her lids as they fluttered, awakened from a dreamless sleep, and she looked at the tray.
"This is for you because you are the most important part of my busy day!" She smiled and sleepily drank half her cup of chocolate. Then she drifted back to sleep, not really understanding the love I felt and how much I intended to change. -Author Unknown |
