(Image of "Mother" from poetess' personal scrapbook)
poem submitted to "A Parent's Love" poetry contest, Matt Caliri, sponsor, August 4, 2026
Since I have no children, I chose to write about the quintessential parental love that I was blessed to receive. I still see you in the soft corners of my childhood~ your morning humming drifting like a small sunrise, your hands smoothing the edges of every trembling day, your presence stitching calm into the rooms we lived in. The stories you carried shaped the woman I became; I still see you in the soft corners of my childhood~ your laughter warming the walls like a familiar lantern, your footsteps teaching me how to walk toward hope. Time folds softly now, but your tenderness remains; your wisdom rises like gentle grace when the world grows loud. I still see you in the soft corners of my childhood~ a quiet compass guiding me back to who I am. I cherish you still with every grateful breath, your parental love a quiet light that lingers after loss, your grace echoing through the rooms of memory I still see you in the soft corners of my childhood~
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