Mother's Day

a mother isn't always
the one who bears a child,
for the nine months,
a mother isn't only the one
who feeds and nurses her child,
a mother isn't just the one
who raises only her own blood

a mother is also born 
when care oozes for someone,
you had never met, may never after,
for a stranger,
for the one who's not related,
when her heart bleeds and beats
for the distant, beyond the close,
when she pays the bills
of the unknown,
prepares their fond dishes,
risks her safety,
so they're safe,
and calls them "kids"

a mother is also born
when she stays up, tears up,
at the hearing
of someone's pain,
brushing aside
her own wounds,
ignoring her own pains,
fighting her own sleep,
risking her own health

to the mother
who is born every day,
whose heart oozes
with love, and life,
concerns, fears and tears
for others, before hers
to the one who none calls "maa",
and yet is no less than the best of mothers,
every day is mother's day

to the mother out there,
whose heart bleeds
and beats for the kids,
not thinking, even for a moment
if the blood is hers,
to the best mother ever,
every day is a mother's day,
here's wishing you,
happy mother's day!



© sashikant mohanty