Happy Mothers' Day to everyone!

I love my mother,
and so on this day of celebration I only
whisper her name
as one does a word of prayer and keep it sacred
second to the name of God
as though saying it louder will dishonor the power of love
showered on me by her tenderness,
the perfume of her graceful, giving heart.

I shove her virtues in a box,
wrap that in gold foil, tie it
with a wide purple satin bow, and
hide it with other treasures
beneath holy oaks and violets in a secret, hallowed field.

I hide it from the eyes of evil spirits who've inhabited
the hearts of old friends and lovers,
those who've plundered the posh boutiques of my soul
and dragged me naked through shattered glass in my spirit
as the Klan has dragged the battered bodies
of black boys along Texas dirt roads,
laughing at how rhythmically nappy heads bounce hitting
bump after bump and Dixie beer bottles on the way
to lynching.

I hide my bounty lest the possessed return,
vicious phantoms in the dark, anxious to snuff more light.

I love my mother,
and so what I must say of her wonders
I will sing to her softly on the phone
lest evil hear me boasting of her beauty,
see me happy, and roam in my direction.

Yes! God saves His people, but
I've seen Satan one too many times this year.


© Copyright Nordette Adams, May 2005


Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'" So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.
Luke 4:9-13, New English Translation

"In Honor of Our Mothers"
By Nordette Adams