My Mother Annie

Today I wish to share my poem in memory of my ‘young’ mother who passed away about 3 years after my return from London, in my A-Musing 69 (1991) publication.

 

My Mother Annie

She was lying in her cradle

All swathed in pink

God’s bride hovering

The nun baptised calling her: Annie

Although she had a name: Beautiful or Bee

Her nickname became Annie

Her next encounter was with Goddess of Mercy

Barely a toddler, she could not breathe

Her mother laid her down facing Kwan Im

That is why I am called Im or Yin

To seek a new lease of life

My granny pledged my mother’s life to Her

To do a lifetime of good deeds on earth

She gained her new lease, and to witness

She spent her life in social deeds

The poor turned to her to bury their dead

She would use her skill to rally

That their souls would rest in peace

Her Alma Mater she would support and yield

They made her first lady to take the Salute

Alas, God saw fit to take her at forty-seven

Refusing to extend her lease at random

Making us motherless, no warm bay of breast

The only consolation: God took her young

She must have been good to live beyond

(She passed away on July 11, 1969)