Two More Poems

A Mother's Prayer by Mary A. Loberg

Help me dear Lord, as a mother, I pray
And bless these hands folded in prayer today;
May they be ever strong as they guide, as they teach,
Being never too far for a child to reach.
May they never, with selfishness, try to dissuade,
Nor too quickly punish, nor too slowly aid.
May they point out the pleasures in laughter and song,
And may they show, wisely, the right from the wrong,
So that one day I'll know that I've helped all I can
To make her a woman, to make him a man.

Her Little Shadows by Barbara Burrow

I saw a young mother
With eyes full of laughter
And two little shadows
Came following after.
Wherever she moved,
They were always right there
Holding onto her skirts,
Hanging onto her chair,
Before her, behind her-
An adhesive pair.

"Don't you ever get weary
As, day after day,
Your two little tagalongs
Get in your way?"

She smiled as she shook
Her pretty young head,
And I'll always remember
The words that she said:
"It's good to have shadows
That run when you run,
That laugh when you're happy
And hum when you hum-
For you only have shadows
When your life's filled with sun!"