POETRY

Words

A poem by my mother

The author, Elva May Harder

Note: Below the poem is an audio clip of the me reading Mom’s poem.

They line up, on paper, commanding attention —
Just squiggly, wiggly, odd looking marks!

Transformed by reading, they stimulate thinking and
Thus become useful, workable tools.

Passed on to others, these very same words can be
Badly twisted or misunderstood.

So it isn’t the words but how they are taken
That destines them to be junk or jewels!

____________

Copyright ©1986, Elva May Harder

Sadly, much of my mother’s creative expression is lost or was never intended to survive a single event. Then again, the bulk of her creative expression went into the raising of eight unique children.