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Walks with my mother

 

Walks with my mother

 

Once, on our nightly walk,

Mum & me (at about 19)

We got to the top of a steep decline

Stricken with early adult angst

I raged as fast as I could down the hill

Till I collided with the ground at pace

I was young enough & passionate enough for it not to hurt

& it did calm me down

What 20 years later I would discover was anxiety

Mum in her inimitable way, said nothing directly

Her approach was active listening

She let me talk without forcing advice

She diminished seriousness

She invited open & honest disclosures

But she realized that I was one of life’s worriers

So she was natural, not concerned, with me

She made things so much better

Always with a gentle sense of humour

The greatest listener I ever knew

She kept thing real, by keeping things light.


 

Published & Copyright Malachi Doyle 2024.

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