Mama Matriarch

Mama, matriarch, mentor, friend
The journey you resolved
Decisively embark on
To the very end
Disillusionment laden
The abrupt end, a fine home
I can only imagine
The condensed strength
To move on
When the flower that blossomed
Did not go forth as seed
I can only imagine
What it really took
To get up
And bear alone

It must have been
An iron heart
Or shatters of one fragile
Piece by piece
Glued together
It must have broken
Over and again
When the kids were home
No fees no books
No one else
To look to
No one else
To sign the cheque
But mama matriarch

Somehow, some way
By sufficient grace
The purse never ran dry
And if ever it did
Mama Never let it show
Nay did we notice
The trousers were missing
We never starved
Mama brought food home
Overhead a roof
Mama paid rent
Not from millions
She took what little
And bore it alone

What made you stick?
Lady at her prime
The thought of starving babies?
In the cold, in tatters
Was it just for duty’s sake?
To get it over with?
Wouldn’t it have worn out?
Sooner or later
Eroded by hurdles
Along the way
It must have been
Something deeper
Unfathomable, profound
Never did you utter
You couldn’t bear it
Not ever did you say
You had enough
Nor not a moment resolve
To dump the baggage
To pause and rewind
To start afresh
Mama matriarch
Mentor friend

In your sons eyes
You’re forever be
Mama matriarch
Mentor friend
Ill forever sing
Of the strength of a woman
I’ll want to live the day
I make you proud

The day you teach generations
Of tested perseverance
Of the moulders furnace
Of holding on
Of one day at a time
Of two pairs of steps
Of taking a step back
Of God taking the lead
Of a mother’s love
Of being mama matriarch mentor friend

Simon Mwaura Njoki