Let Me Be Your Friend
For Wanda, and all mothers ---
I can't forget the feeling when first I heard you cry.
I couldn't understand you though, I wanted, so, to try.
Bewildered tears ran down your face. I couldn't tell you then.
Now I think you understand that's how a life begins.
A tiny little baby so helpless and so weak --
Already had some things to say, but, knew not how to speak.
Forced into a different world than that from which you came -
You had to face a brand new life before you knew your name.
A mother's love surrounded you in the world from which you came.
And, as you grow, from day to day, I hope you'll feel the same.
As time goes passing by, I hope we'll not pretend,
Let me be there when you cry - Just let me be your friend.
Both a student and a teacher in your life, I want to be.
There are things that you can learn from me, and some you can teach me.
Wherever life may take you, a mother's love I'll send.
So, when you really need someone, just let me be your friend.
My child, I hope you understand that I don't know it all.
At times along uncertain roads, you may see me trip and fall.
So, I hope you'll be there too, if I should need to mend.
And, whether happiness or sorrow comes, please let me be your friend.
Author's Comments:
"Why God gave this to me, I'll never know. It is the emotion I believe most mothers feel. It was 1982 and I was driving alone from Houston to Waco where Wanda and Joan, my wife and daughter, were to meet me. I started thinking over and over about mothers and children. I remember scribbling on a pad lying on the passenger’s seat of the car as I drove along the interstate (a practice I certainly don't recommend). By the time I reached Waco, the poem just needed cleaning up and polishing up...... Jake"
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