An Ode to Mothers

Being a mother isn't simply
A matter of having children.
To think that is as absurd
As believing that having a piano
Makes one a musician. (1)

It is true that you may occasionally overhear a mother say
"Children must have their naps,
It's mother who knows best."
When what she really means by that
Is that she needs a rest. (2)

And yet of all the home remedies,
A good wife and mother is still the best. (3)
For a mother is the only person on earth
Who can divide her love among ten children
And each child still have all her love. (4)

Why, some people even say
It takes a hundred men to make an encampment,
But one woman to make a home, (5)
And still others affirm that
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. (6)

And didn't Billy Sunday once say,
"Mothers... fill places so great
That there isn't an angel in heaven
Who wouldn't be glad to give a bushel of diamonds
To come down here and take their place." (7)

Most of all the beautiful things in life
Come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds.
Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows,
Brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins,
But you've only one mother in the whole world. (8)

A woman of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting,
But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Her children arise and call her blessed. (9)