12/25/2023
Will you remember
to way back before
I whispered “I love you”
as I closed your door?
And I wonder if maybe,
you will remember
the way the house smelt
in the month of December
The racing to bed
and stroking your head,
the songs that we sung,
and the books that we read
I wonder if maybe
you’ll remember on Sunday,
the pancakes, then school bags
all ready for Monday
That mother spelt love,
the way I held you
And when I messed up
I apologised too
I wonder if maybe
you’ll remember the way
his keys made music
at the end of the day
How I held you forever
when our eyes first met
How you’ll never remember
what I can’t forget
One day you’ll be older
maybe a child of your own
and I’ll sit there and watch you
and that’s when I’ll know
It was more than just holding you in my arms
And more than just conversations with the stars.
It was more than the nights that called for my bed,
the ones I stayed up and held you instead.
It was more than the milestones, or the places we’d been.
It was the little moments too, the ones in between.
And some days were hard, sometimes a lot.
And we muddled through often.
More often than not.
But the love and the smiles would find us each morning.
The glue to our days of this childhood forming.
And maybe one night
after the longest of days
when you’re singing about
happiness when skies are grey
There were Sunday pancakes
and it’s now time for bed
as you yawn at the stars
while you’re stroking their head
Maybe you’ll ask me,
“Will they remember this mum?”
Your face will be tired
Your hair in a bun.
And that’s when I’ll smile
because now I am sure.
As you whisper “I love you”,
and close their door.
From my book Beautiful Chaos:
Pre order here: www.jessicaurlichs.com/shop
Jess Urlichs
Art: angelica.ch.r
