Mama always taught me
To never be rude
To keep my mouth quiet
Too eat all my food.
Mama always taught me
To turn the other cheek
To let mean words pass me by
To turn and retreat.
Mama always taught me
To be a lady and smile
To keep my elbows off the table
And to only weep for a while.
Mama never taught me
That life could be cold
That friends could turn
That I would one day grow old.
Mama never taught me
How to stand on my own
To stand up for my rights
Honestly, I was never shown.
Mama never taught me
That my heart could be hurt
That the marriage could break
That I should stay awake and alert.
Mama never taught me
About sickness and death
How worry makes you old
That I should turn right and not left.
Mama always taught me
To love each soul
To help when I can
To make me a whole.
Mama never taught me
How I would feel when she would die
How empty I would feel
Or how to keep the tears out of my eyes.
Terry Shepherd
05/21/2013
Related articles
- Happy Mama’s Day! (lovealwayshannah.com)
- A Lesson in Turning the Other Cheek (searlebration.com)
- Stevie Wonder’s Mama (mamaactivist.wordpress.com)
- Hey Mama… (chelleychelle101.wordpress.com)
- The person who taught me what is love (thesunavenue.wordpress.com)
- A cheek-turning life… (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com)
- Parable, Two Sisters (fropuff7.wordpress.com)
- Random bits….. (cloud9paradigm.com)
Who I am 
What a very deeply emotional poem. Beautiful
LikeLike
Thanks Easter, so glad you enjoyed reading it!
LikeLike
🙂 I always cherish a glimpse into one other’s heart.
Easter
LikeLike
so do I Easter…………..hugs
LikeLike
Beautiful
LikeLike
thank you Sherry!
LikeLike
Terry – this is beautiful.
LikeLike
thank you so much Sheri
LikeLike
Ohhh, huge hug , Terry! …Paula xxx
LikeLike
thanks so much Paula!
LikeLike
Wonderful poem … and I love the song – that I have never heard before. You touched me truly with this .. poem!
LikeLike
I am so glad you enjoyed the post my friend
LikeLike
This is a touching poem! Thank you and hugs.
LikeLike
thank you so much Tersia!!!!
LikeLike
Really liked this…
LikeLike
so happy to hear!!
LikeLike
My mama always taught me
To give hugs to those that need it
To be helpful to those in pain
so Terry – HUGE HUGS to you my friend
LikeLike
I am glad you enjoyed my post and I like what your Mama said to you!
LikeLike
I thought you deserved one. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh but hat a beautiful mama you experienced…
LikeLike
Mama’s are usually the best, but as children we don’t realize it until we are grown
LikeLike
I know. Wish we could start out wise …
LikeLike
but then we would not learn anything as moms
LikeLike
Hmm. This really makes me wonder about my mum’s guidance.
LikeLike
The only thing I can say is I believe our Mom’s did the best they knew how, some better or worse than others. Hopefully we are even better mothers today
LikeLike
I hope so
LikeLike
I don’t know if we can teach our kids how it will feel when we die. I think that’s something we each have to learn in our own way. I thought I was ready for my mom’s death. Not.
LikeLike
WE try to make the road easier to follow but none of us is really ready to face death of loved ones, at least I am not, even when I know it is coming
LikeLike