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Description
After reading the poetry of Tobin James Mueller online, I contacted him and asked if I could develop some of his poems for MacJams. This is the first in a series I'm planning. I actually changed some of the words (I got his ok), edited some of them down, and added music to the background. This poem meant a great deal to me, as if it was written about myself and my own mother. (The song art are two photos of her, before and after she became old.) This version is in memory of her.
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Lyrics
Old.
In one day my mother grew old.
She was no longer able to hold my hand,
stroke my hair from scarred temple,
and say, in the face of all the world’s weight and disregard,
that nothing was so important as I.
She was too feeble,
too near death,
too lost in memory.
Up until then, regardless of grey and thinning hair,
regardless of wrinkles and patchy skin,
regardless of the cancer hidden beneath,
she was young in my eyes,
and I, a youth before her.
Now, she is no longer herself.
And I am no longer part
child.
© 2004 Tobin James Mueller
In one day my mother grew old.
She was no longer able to hold my hand,
stroke my hair from scarred temple,
and say, in the face of all the world’s weight and disregard,
that nothing was so important as I.
She was too feeble,
too near death,
too lost in memory.
Up until then, regardless of grey and thinning hair,
regardless of wrinkles and patchy skin,
regardless of the cancer hidden beneath,
she was young in my eyes,
and I, a youth before her.
Now, she is no longer herself.
And I am no longer part
child.
© 2004 Tobin James Mueller
TobinMueller
My God, Del, you tear my heart out. Your straightforward
reading, yet with such depth, stuns me with its power.
And the music. I am speechless. Thank you.