A statue of Patrick Kavanagh on the banks of the Grand Canal, in Dublin. PEIERLS / CREATIVE COMMONS
It's Mother's Day in the US, what better way to celebrate it than with this beautiful Patrick Kavanagh poem?
In the poem "In Memory of My Mother", Kavanagh provides a vivid and affectionate portrait of his late mother, celebrating her life and remembering the wonderful woman she was.
Despite the fact that his mother is dead, Kavanagh addresses her in the present tense as though she is still alive, highlighting that she is still very much alive in his mind and his heart.
You can read the full poem below and share it with your mother or wife this Mother's Day.
"I do not think of you lying in the wet clay
Of a Monaghan graveyard; I see
You walking down a lane among the poplars
On your way to the station, or happily
Going to second Mass on a summer Sunday
You meet me and you say:
‘Don’t forget to see about the cattle – ‘
Among your earthiest words the angels stray.
And I think of you walking along a headland
Of green oats in June,
So full of repose, so rich with life –
And I see us meeting at the end of a town.
On a fair day by accident, after
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.
O you are not lying in the wet clay,
For it is a harvest evening now and we
Are piling up the ricks against the moonlight
And you smile up at us – eternally."
Happy Mother's Day! From all of us at IrishCentral!