From the moment you are born
Who would ever imagine
The kind of real life superhero
You will grow up to be?
From the shortest to the tallest,
Spectrum of shades dark to lighter
As long as blood runs through your veins
Your power to influence and shape remains
The power to shape leaders, movers, shakers, doers
The power to nurture or destroy
The power to lift up or pull down
Such power is one to wield with humility and grace
Because when done well
The positive impact for generations is undeniable
Your children and community rise and call you blessed
Your indelible print guiding, motivating each step
When done from a place of brokeness or malice
The hurt and dysfunction runs deep
Sometimes taking a lifetime
To reverse, heal and set right
Hence the importance
As a community, society and world
To do right and help lay the foundation
That facilitates you blossoming to destined purpose
In you is the embodiment
Of complexities so complex
And simplicities so simple
Intricately wrapped in human shell of all sizes
For one divinely graced with the spirit
And nature of nurture
From birth you yourself need nurture
To grow in fullness into the task ahead
Critical is the nuture and protection of your body
Your mind, your soul, your spirit
For one cannot pour from an empty cup
You are a priority to be filled to overflow
Yet you fight daily battles
To be seen, heard, accepted and valued
In a world that seems to want to
Because of your gender, demote you to second class
So on this day I honour
My real life superhero – my mum
Whose nurture, wisdom, kindness and grace
I have drunk and continue to drink from
I honour the mother and mothers before her
On whose shoulders she and others stood/stand
On whose shoulders we of present day stand
As beneficiaries of their love and many sacrifices
I honour myself and all who bear
The incomparable title of mother
I see and understand our collective fight
To give, be and gain better for our children
As the tide of change turns
May we learn to prioritise without guilt or shame
Our own nurture as individuals
So we can better nurture others in need of our nurture
From the bottom of my heart
Happy Mother’s Day to every superhero mum
You are beautiful in so many ways
You are valued and treasured more than you know
