I don't remember how you held me
Or the warmth of your soft hands
I don't remember what you smelled like
Or us playing in the sand

I remember how my heart did ache
When you had to go at last
And I still get sad at times
Thinking of the past

Now I know your anguish
When you knew you'd not survive
To be here for the moments
You wished to be by my side

For now I am a mother too
Watching my baby sleep
And while I lay here by his side
Silently I weep

I weep for all the times of joy
That you could never live and laugh
No chance to watch him play and grow
Blowing bubbles in the bath

I shed these tears because I know
Our time remains uncertain
We'll never know when it's our turn
To pass beyond that curtain

I fear he will in time, like me
Forget his mommy's touch
And never know the way that I
Have loved him so so much

Even if by chance we are luckier
Than you and I have been
When he's grown, and time's gone by
He'll have forgotten those times when

I lay beside his little body
Soft and deep in rest
And held his hand, and kissed his head
And fed him with my breast

He'll forget how he got excited
When I picked him up each day
How he wanted me to sing each night
and begged me, "mama, stay."

For now I'll watch him as he sleeps
And leave him with a kiss
Hoping he and I will have the time
You and I were forced to miss.

- HM Braverman

A Mother's Day remembrance and reflection.