When the Good Lord was creating Mothers
He was into the sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said,
"You are doing a lot of fiddling around with this one."
And the Lord said "Have you read the spec on this order?"

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic.
Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable.
Run on black coffee and leftovers.
Have a lap that disappears when she stands up.
A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair...
and six pairs of hands...

The angel shook her head slowly and said,
"Six pairs of hands...No Way."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord.
"It's the three pairs of eyes that mother's have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord Nodded.
"One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks,
"What are you kids doing in there?" when she already knows.
Another here in the back of her head that sees
what she shouldn't but what she has to know,
and of course the ones here in the front that can look
at a child when he goofs up and say,
"I understand and I love you"
without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord,' said the angel touching his sleeve gently,
"Come to bed. Tomorrow..."

"I can't," said the Lord,
"I'm so close to creating something so close to myself.
Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...
can feed a family of six with one pound of hanburger...
and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a Mother very slowly.
"It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough!" said the Lord excitedly.
"You cannot imagine what this Mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"

"Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,"
said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran a finger across the cheek.
"There is a leak," she pronounced.
"I told you, you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord "it's a tear."

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber.
"I didn't put it there."

Other Poems

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