WEE THREE: A MOTHER'S LOVE IN VERSE

Many years ago before I born, when my mother, aunt and uncle were small children, myGrandmother Helen Springer Moran began writing poetry, about and for her children.

She began her poems from their perspective and how they saw the world.

She wanted her poems to be published more than most things in life, though I was to learn this much later. She passed away about six months before I was born, I didn’t even know that her poems existed till many years later, when my own mother lay dying.

The one thing besides, having her children around her, that she enjoyed most was having those same poems read to her over and over again. They brought back lovely memories of her childhood to her in her last days.

Many children don’t have the ideal childhood, I was one of them. I wonder if in fact there is such a thing as an ideal childhood or is it only in the imagination of Hollywood?

When I first decided to take these poems my grandmother wrote, lengthen them, and add my own, thereby publishing, Wee Three: A Mother’s Love in Verse, it was first a gift to my mother and grandmother. It was a way for me to honor their memory and the memories of children. I wanted to help people to reconnect with the child within and to bring a link back to families.

Wee Three: A Mother’s Love in Verse, carries with it the best memories of childhood. In both its lessons and its joys, for childhood is full of both.

I was raised in a family of nine, we were very poor. Not every memory of my childhood is good, in fact most aren’t. Yet, my intention was to focus on the best and greatest things that it held.

Those are of imagination, beauty, joy, discovery, and gentle lessons. The lessons that give us boundaries and teach us responsibility without harm, as told in “Punishment.”

Wee Three: A Mother’s Love in Verse, is meant to be read to the young or the young at heart. It was written to help me remember the innocence and joy that we all begin life with and share that with others.

It is a childhood keepsake book, to be passed down between the generations, bridging the gap, between life as it was in the past and life that is yet to be.

My hope is that it will bring joy, wonder, and imagination back to the world. Today, we live in such a fast paced technological society; it seems we have lost so much of life’s pleasure in just being.

Wondering

The other day on Twitter my friend @TheFourOrders asked me if we had lost our wonder? I began thinking of all the times I have spent watching the stars, listening to the wind move through the trees.

The moments spent making cloud pictures, finding a new bug that I had never seen before and marveling about its beauty. Sitting and listening to the stories of my parents, the elders in our community or watching people walk their dogs.

It also made me think of what television or playing video games is making us lose. The trips to the mall that are taken, not because we need something but as a means of entertainment.

And I realized that a part of the meaning of Wee Three is its ability to help us to remember the simpler times. The games of our youth, and the joy and wonder that children are born with.

Somewhere along the way it seems we as a society have lost our ability to find this wonder and joy. Can we remember, can we reclaim it?

WONDERING

Have we lost our ability?
To find the wonder in the day?

To look upon the sky so fair,
Make pictures from the clouds above.

Watch the gentle breeze blow the leaves,
Hear the calm voices of the trees.

Pet a dog or watch a kitten,
Open our hearts to see their joy.

Can we still sit so quietly?
Listening to the birds in song.

Do we still see the miracles?
In the uncomplicated things.

Where is the time to watch the stars?
Or see the moonlight shine so bright.

Anger and tension fills our lives.
Killing us with the fear and stress.

No time left to teach our children,
See the glory and the wonder.

Trouble-free, fun and banter too,
All the natural, simple play.

Is it worth the fury and strain?
We give ourselves and children too.

Are we losing our precious time?
With all the running to and fro.

Where has all of life’s glory gone?
Can we reclaim our wonder now?

Copyrighted 2011 Marta Moran-Bishop


Wee Three is a book of verse and memories. But it is also a means to regain and to share that innocence and joy we had as a child. My hope is that in its pages people will find a way to remember the times before the mall or shopping became our means of entertainment. And we as a society will begin to look once again at the pure innocent wonder that life has for us.

What do you all think? Can we as a society reclaim our sense of wonder? Can we help our children to find fun in simple, natural play again?