When Mom Comes To Die



When Mom Comes To Die
You spend your life
Being nourished and loved.
From those special people,
The ones, that God sent from above.

They work and they toil.
To give you their best.
They take pleasure and joy.
Sharing in your happiness.

A kiss or a hug
At just the right time.
Makes you warm inside,
Puts you on cloud nine.

They give so much.
As the years come and go.
They are always there.
They want you to know.

Time passes on.
Until you've grown and leave.
They wait patiently.
To help out, in your times of need.

And then it's their time.
As they begin to fail.
They know it's their time.
When, they just can't tell.

They don't want to be a burden.
Just need somewhere to rest.
A cup of soup and a smile.
And they'll be back at their best.

Some kids running round.
With laughter filling the air.
Let's them know.
They haven't a care.

When Mom comes to die.
She puts all things aside.
Doesn't want anything special.
Doesn't want you to cry.

Just see to her needs.
Give her time to rest.
Talk of old times.
The ones she liked best.

She'll know when to go.
When the darkness falls.
She'll just slip away.
And that will end it all.

About this poem

My wife's mom came to live with us in July of last year. She was under hospice care, but since she's been with us she no longer in hospice care and is doing good. I wrote this poem because in the beginning, I didn't think she was going to last to long. Happy to say, she's doing fine now except for the afternoons when she starts to lose her memory and her dementia comes through.

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Written on December 09, 2021

Submitted by larrymize on February 11, 2022

Modified on March 29, 2023

1:24 min read
135

Quick analysis:

Scheme Axxbx xcxx xdex xfgf xxxx dxdx xcxc xgfg Aeba xcxc fxxx
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,142
Words 270
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Lawerence E. Mize

Lawerence E. Mize was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1949. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a medical corpsman with the 101st Airborne Division. A month after his eighteenth birthday he began his one year tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam. He served with the "Screaming Eagles," of the 101st Airborne Division as a combat medic with A Company of the 2/501st Airmobile Division. On completing his military obligation he returned home to Baltimore and joined the Baltimore City Police Department at the age of twenty-one. Mize went on to serve with the Baltimore City Police Department for the next twenty-nine years retiring as a Sergeant in 1999. Mize then went on to become a District Court Bailiff in 2003. He left that position in 2018 and now likes to spend his time riding his bicycle, writing poems, and traveling with his wife Sandy whom he has been married to for the last forty-eight years. They have two sons, Lawerence Jr. and Nicholas. Mize has self-published six books of poetry since 1997, to include two works about his experiences in Vietnam, "Tortured Soul and Dead Men Calling, (both published by American Literary Press, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland), both of which helped Lawerence deal with the painful memories of Vietnam; a book of poems he dedicated to his wife, Sandy, titled "Thoughts of You," (Tate Publishing & Enterprises, Mustang, Oklahoma); a book of poems about life and dying titled "Reflections," (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, SC); a collection of poems about Mize's life growing up in Baltimore, his experiences in Vietnam, and speak to the riot and looting in Baltimore in 2015 and the aftermath with all its violence in the city since titled, "My Long Journey In Baltimore," (Dorrance Publishing Co. Pittsburgh, PA); and his latest work in 2021 titled "Baltimore...A City Besieged," in which Mize takes us on a poetic tour of Baltimore and provides us with a chilling account of what life is like for Baltimore's residents with over 300 homicides in the last six years. more…

All Lawerence E. Mize poems | Lawerence E. Mize Books

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Discuss the poem When Mom Comes To Die with the community...

5 Comments
  • cecilia.crasto.au
    Your mum is blessed to have a son who loves and cares deeply, unfortunately not many are,! Beautifully stated, I was inspired!
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • johnc.22519
    An expressive and moving poem. Who has not taken their parents for granted at some time? The gratitude is displaced one generation, when we care for our own children.
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • OnlyNtime4Always
    What a lovely poem! We prepare for all of life’s events as best we can. Seems to me that you did just that! Happy to know she has outlived your poem
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • Soulwriter
    This is heartwarming. The power of love.
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • Dougla$Irishman
    What a happy poem about MOM ! All our moms are special no matter what !
    A mother's love is always there for us !
    Thanks for reminding us how special they are !
    LikeReply 12 years ago

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"When Mom Comes To Die" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/120105/when-mom-comes-to-die>.

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