The Two Women

She was born in the winter of 69
I was twenty nine going on forty
it was a dark and heavy time of
my life, no shouts of joy at
this new birth, it only seemed
to make a hard time worse


But a beautiful baby, and so fair
her presence graced our lives with
substance rare, so deep was her
gaze as she looked at you, she
had an epiphany at just past
two years of age, we who
witnessed, sat in amazement
as we were held in silence
deep, something only
the spirit could reap


The years then began to pile up
and I said Why Lord do I have to
drink this cup? rebellion began
to rear its ugly head, she wrote
in her diary at age ten, I hate
God and I hate my mom . . .
in other words, why dont they
leave me alone?


As the teen years came into view
a shaking of beliefs and traditions
set in Do what you please dont
listen to her was the advice
given by those of her peers and
some adults too, I prayed
Oh God keep her close,
from me she was going ...
way out in the deep


The lessons she learned were oh
so hard, I feared she might break
and shatter. . .like glass as it
hits the floor, but the Christ
deep within never left her side,
together, through the years and
miles they kept in stride


Then came the day she reached out . . .
to search and seek, the purpose, the
reason, the place in Life she should
fill, it was no easy feat, but she
began the long journey, to the place
of peace, of fulfillment within,
more epiphanys it would take
to make it clear


Now when I tell you, it is hard to
reconcile, we are bound with the
bonds of love forged when she was
so small, though far apart in miles,
our thoughts run the same, sometimes
she says. . . Mother this cannot be
true, you have written exactly what
I wrote too friends, close and true,
my advice and opinions actually
sought, Oh Lord this is a true
miracle You have wrought . . .


This is one of my first poems and is
written about my daughter Gloria and
myself. I was struggling with finding
my way in poetry...


sharon   ... August 2000


When I first wrote this, I put these words at the bottom
"Writing poems is new to me and I find myself warring between
the rhyming which comes easily and putting what I feel into words,
in a different way. Maybe there is a blending to come.
Thanks for your patience as I practice on you."