Women are the mothers who bear forth the possibility of the world.

Originally appeared on Medium

A mother’s day poem for all the women who have given birth to the world. Mother’s Day celebrates the necessity of women,
not just for life,
but for showing us how to live.

In some Jewish communities, there is a tradition on Passover that only women can light the candles to begin the celebration. Because, for a festival commemorating a new life for an entire people, they begin by acknowledging that, if it wasn’t for the women, they would have never realized that new life.

It is women who make life possible.

It is women who bear forth existence.

It is women who labor to produce love, mercy, justice, healing, and hope.

It is women who create the world.

It is women who are the mothers not just of life, but of what it means to live.

As a collective, we ought to acknowledge the humans who embodied such a prerogative.

And for those of us fortunate enough, we should also acknowledge those who have made our specific existence possible — to be part of that wondrous whole that women given birth to.

This poem celebrates motherhood based on my specific experience, but hopefully also captures something of the universal motherhood that makes life and hope possible in the first place.

For Mother, Tricia.

Look, I can tie my shoes! Well,
I just slip them on now,
But at least I know how.
My mom showed me how to do that.

I may even make
The best cookies in the world.
Well, at least I think so.
Because my mom showed me how to do that.

For some reason, I love taking walks.
I love being
Outside and feeling small amongst the earth.
Yes, my mom showed me how to do that.

I can read. I can do basic math. I have
Been taught the art of knowing
How to learn; the discipline
Of being curious.
My mom showed me how to do that.

I even know how to get dressed. Even more,
I can get out of bed and prepare for a day.
My mom showed me how to do that, too.

Or maybe throw a party with good
Music and lots of resting;
Creating spaces for people to just be.
My mom showed me how to do that.

The very fact that I can speak,
Be connected to other people,
and show love to the world.
Well, my mom showed me how to do that.

I was told that I have value, that I have
Emotions and I should be aware of them and
The decisions I make all because
My mom showed me how to do that.

I am able to be a father. To love she
Who is their mother because I first had
This kind of mother.
My mom showed me how to do that.

I have been shown how to be vulnerable. To
Say it. To own my stuff.
But also to work hard, with my hands,
For true strength is immeasurable.
My mom showed me how to do that.

See the world from someone
Else’s perspective?
See how my actions
Affect other people?
My mom showed me how to do that, too.

Pursue what is good.
Stand against what is wrong.
Have faith to imagine that
Another world is possible;
By following the wisdom of mothers past.
My mom made all of this possible.

And I can even express it in words. Because the
Love of words, well, you guessed it,
My mom showed me how to do that, too.

My life is the accumulation
Of the presence
That gave me this life.
Someone sat with me,
Calmed me down, gave up
her life for mine, and
Showed me not only the world,
But how to live in it.

I am who I am because
A mother showed me how.

Mothers do not just bear life.
They birth a whole new world through each of our lives.

For they show us how to properly live in it.