There Was An Old Woman

There was an old woman
who lived with a ghost;
she went to a church
and accepted the Host.

Her children were ten
until one of them died;
they lived far away
and nightly they cried.

They searched for their mother
in lovers and friends,
in sex, drugs, and booze,
with various bad ends.

They longed to forgive
and let it all go,
but fate forced them back
to walk in the snow.

But one day they got it
and then understood:
Their mother was human
and grew up in mud.

Her mother had gone
and worked far away
in the factory for shoes
in downtown Norway.

She had disappeared
just after the birth
and run run away
to the ends of the earth.

So listen all children
and try not to despair;
your mothers are people,
not always all there.

Remember your pain
and all that you lost,
but also love freely
no matter the cost.

{Thank you, of course, to the Mother Goose Rhyme with the same title. And huge thanks to Margo Perin for prompting me to write from it.}