Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MOTHER, by HELEN PEAVY WASHBURN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MOTHER, by                    
First Line: Since the black winter night when john was born
Last Line: I stop, and look on empty beds.
Subject(s): Weariness; Fatigue


Since the black winter night when John was born,
I never knew a night's unbroken sleep.
When John was two and less a care at night,
Mary was born. Then Paul and Ernest came
And there were four. I often thought, those years,
If I could get but one night's sleep, just one,
Without a break, I might not be so tired,
Always so tired. But that night never came.
I heard their call the second it began
And breathless, shivering with cold, I reached
Their bed before the cry was still.
Or, if I heard no cry, I rose to see
That things were well, and covers tight and warm.
The house was small those years, four rooms for all
The six of us. I thought I never could
Find place for half the things we needed there.

Our house is larger now, with seven rooms,
And there are two of us to live in them.
Nothing remains to break my sleep at night,
But now I find I can no longer sleep.
A sound, a cry, awakens me, and in my mind,
Breathless and shivering with cold, I stand
Inside their door. And then, remembering,
I stop, and look on empty beds.





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