For Amanda - Prose for Thursday & World Book Day

How apt that this week's #Prose4T should land on World Book Day. I always look forward to this day (not including finding outfits for the boys of course) because it gives us all a chance to share the great books we are reading or have read. It gets the word out there for the author and we get the chance to take in a new tale.

My poem this week has been brewing for a while and yesterday I had to stop the washing up I was doing in order to jot down a few words. I was terrified they would disappear from my mind before I had the chance to get to the computer. The wonders of being a writer eh?

With Mother's Day coming up at the end of this month (May in America) I've been thinking a lot about being a mother, what it entails and the people that I look up to. It wasn't until I became a mother myself that I realised how hard it can be at times and how much stress my step-mother must've had to go through when I was a teenager. I wrote about it last year, which you can read here. My poem this week is for my step-mother and it's the first time I've actually written anything intending it to be 'for' someone, so here goes...

For Amanda



Amanda was her name
Mandy we were told
My dad's new girlfriend, my heart aflame
Anger I would hold

Resentment and hostility
Were what I saved for you
My dad was ours, not yours to be
Hatred shining through

Family was ripped apart
Tore open my soul
I had an aching heart
A great gaping hole

Through years and tears I have seen
Your loving kindness every day
You've watched me grow and always been
A mother for me in every way

You raised me as your daughter
Taught me how to be
A loving mother just like you oughta
Precious you are to me

Every argument gave me
An example of how to act
Anger gone I'm now free
I want you to hear the fact

I look up to you, I'll always be
Amazed at how you coped
I was awful to you, shamelessly
I'll make it up, I hope

Love and care, you've now become
A part of me and mine
I'm thankful that you are my mum
And thanks to you we're fine



I don't think any words can say how grateful I am to my step-mum. Writing is the only way I can express it and even then I can't do it justice.

In aid of World Book Day I'm hosting a giveaway today on twitter. If you answer my question you could be in with a chance of nabbing yourself a copy of When I was Small by Sara O'Leary. In the book a mother talks to her son about when she was small, telling him about all of her adventures. This is something I often do with LP! The hashtag is #WorldBookDayGiveaway and I hope you'll hop over and give it a peek.

Prose for Thought