Two Mother's

Two Mothers
I had two mothers,
Two mothers I claim,
Two different people,
Yet with the same name.
~ * ~ * ~
Two separate women,
Diverse by design,
But I loved them both,
Because they were both mine.
~ * ~ * ~
The first was the mother
Who carried me here,
Gave birth and nurtured,
And launched my career.
~ * ~ * ~
She was the one
Whose features I bear,
Complete with the facial
Expression I wear.
~ * ~ * ~
She gave me some music
Which follows me yet,
Along with examples
In life that she set.
~ * ~ * ~
Then as I got older,
She some younger grew,
And we’d laugh as only mothers
And daughters can do.
~ * ~ * ~
But then came the year
That her mind clouded so,
And I sensed that the mother
I’d known soon would go.
~ * ~ * ~
So quickly she changed,
And turned into the other,
As a stranger who dressed
In the clothes of my mother.
~ * ~ * ~
Oh, she looked the same,
As least at arm’s length,
But she was the child now,
And I was her strength.
~ * ~ * ~
We’d come full circle,
We women three,
My mother the first,
The second, and me.
~ * ~ * ~
And if my own children
Should come to a day
When a new mother comes,
And the old goes away-
~ * ~ * ~
I’d ask of them nothing
That I didn’t do:
Love both of your mothers,
As both have loved you.
….Author unknown….