Julia F

I wrote this poem for my mother Erika Begemann a few years ago for Mother's Day. I wanted to express my thanks for the wonderful fairy tales and poems and stories she shared with me when I was a child, from the forests of Germany where I was born to southern Ontario, where I grew up

My Mother’s Gift

I remember your garden still
a sweet-scented, sun drenched hum
and a sheltered leafy peace
like your safe arms around me.

The dark forests of my childhood
transformed by your stories
into enchanted kingdoms
infinite with mystery and delight.

And later you gave me
the poetry of love and longing,
of the soul’s sadness and redemption,
in the language of castles and roses.

You showed me moonlit sonatas
and the great symphonies,
the sound of children’s angel voices rising
to join the music of the spheres.

I thank you now and always
for revealing the secret realms
of magic and beauty and imagination,
for helping me to spread my own gossamer wings.