They constantly wonder, and within their question, lies the answer.

Who is it who from her eyes runs a river of care, giving, and generosity?

And who is it whose name makes the letters on my paper flourish and blossom each time I write it down?

She is my source of light and beacon through life, guiding me, and without her I would lose my path.

Amidst of life and its harsh events and obstacles, too, she is the first person I go to.

She lifts huge weights off my shoulder, sharing my dilemmas, leaving nothing for me to worry about when I’m younger or older.

She is that anticipated cool breeze on a hot summer’s day, and the light that abolishes all my heart’s darkness every single day.

She engulfs you with love she had sewn, laced with care and trust.

And when her hair begins to grey and the color invades her head pervasively without any restrictions.

When time and age carve sadness on the walls of her palms slowly but steadily,

That is when the end has come, and the curtains have closed, and you are woken up by the inevitable reality to the end of her presence.

That is when you realize the answer to your question which lies within its folds, it is always and forever the mother, that’s what I’ve been taught and told.

About The Poet

Shahd Mohammad Jamal is a student of Grade 10 at Al Muwakeb School, Barsha.

She would be sharing her poem. ‘The Source of Love’.