| THE ROCKING CHAIR |
| THE ROCKING CHAIR The seat is wide and polished From years of steady rocking; I can almost see Gram sitting there With her needle mending stockings! The rockers now have both worn smooth Thought they still groan & creak.. When I was small, I used to think That they were trying to speak! The left arm once was broken By my older cousin Lou... But Grandpa fixed it right away So Gramma never knew! But she found out when Uncle Joe Burned a place with his cigar; You can see it even now... There was no way to hide the scar! The chair was a special wedding gift From grandpa to his wife, And even now, it still recalls A simpler way of life He carved the high back all by hand Put so much love into the wood; That to me it is a symbol Of all that's sweet and good! It's where Gramma rocked her babies Gave each one a mother's care And it remains a special place My Gramma's rocking chair! She gave it to her daughter On the same day I arrived; They say she rocked while thanking God That both of us survived! And I remember as a tiny girl Running to Mama when I fell She'd rock me for a little while, Then kiss and make it well! And later, in that rocking chair She held me as I cried The summer that I turned 14 When my beloved collie died. And she was rocking on the day Towards the end of my twentieth year When I knelt to say, "I'm getting married And she could not hide her tears... Like her mother once had done, She gave the chair to me... With just a few short days to spare Before my own child came to be... |
And each time I nursed my babies I felt their presence in the air... Love radiates from every inch Of that old rocking chair! It's rocked through years of endless love Soaked up an ocean of childish tears Lulled many babies off to sleep And quieted nighttime fears This old chair is constructed Of nails and antique wood It's a blend of love and other things That make up motherhood! Much more than home-made furniture It has become a legacy... From Gramma to my mother And to my children's kids, from me! I pray that this tradition WIll keep being handed down And as long as motherhood continues This chair will be around! I pray that after I am gone It's still used to ease life's pain Spreading love and rocking babies In one long, unbroken chain!! Dusty Richardson c 1978 |
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