Two mothering poems

A lovely poem by Maura Dooley, for expectant mothers...


FREIGHT

I am the ship in which you sail,
little dancing bones,
your passage between the dream
and the waking dream,
your sieve, your pea-green boat.
I’ll pay whatever toll your ferry needs.
And you, whose history’s already charted
in a rope of cells, be tender to
those other unnamed vessels
who will surprise you one day,
tug-tugging, irresistible,
and float you out beyond your depth,
where you’ll look down, puzzled, amazed.


and a kinder version of Philip Larkin's cynicism, by Adrian Mitchell...

                                                    THIS BE THE WORST

They tuck you up, your mum and dad
They read you Peter Rabbit, too.
They give you all the treats they had
And add some extra, just for you.

They were tucked up when they were small,
(Pink perfume, blue tobacco-smoke),
By those whose kiss healed any fall,
Whose laughter doubled any joke.

Man hands on happiness to man.
                                                      It deepens like a coastal shelf.
                                                      So love your parents all you can
                                                    And have some cheerful kids yourself.