Mother’s Day: May Concert

A Mother’s Instinct

Daniel Choi

A mother’s instinct - 

As visceral as a scream, 

As automatic as a knee jerk

With intentions as tender as the chicken Mom makes, 

With motives as pure as the water she ensures we can afford

Like sunlight in the love that radiates from her once inhabited womb, 

Like rain in its constancy and persistence

A mother’s instinct knows no end

In sight, for it had never latched onto the child from the beginning,

Instead, the child was always under its wing, it grew from within its womb.

Stubborn and persevering, visceral and tender, giving without receiving,

A mother’s instinct is perhaps God’s proudest creation.

Poem by Stella Schick

There is only one day 

Set aside for celebrating our mothers, 

But we ought to spend the whole year 

Cherishing them. For who else will

Wake up in the middle of the night 

And sit at the side of your bed and 

Hold your hand when you are ill?

And who else will reassure you 

That you are actually very good-looking 

And very clever and very kind and very talented

Despite what others might think?

And who else will make sure that you are

Always well-fed and well-dressed and 

Well-prepared for anything you might encounter?

And who else would give you 

Just one more minute please

Before it’s time to turn off the lights?

And who else gives such tender hugs 

Or such witty comments 

Or makes the very best sandwiches, 

Without your having to ask for it?

Perhaps it is true that there are times 

When we wish they were not so strict or so doting 

But then in the end we see that these qualities 

Are not flaws after all. So, in short—

We have more reasons to celebrate our mothers

Than we have days in which to celebrate them.