An Unpublished Writer, 1922-2013 #4

Mom wrote a lot of poems covering a wide range of feelings. Here are four of them.
The first two are polar opposites, and the last two were written within weeks of the births of her grand daughters.

VITAL SIGNS

The vacuum that is the day
begins with waking from sleep
filled with dreams more alive
than my living.

The silence of the house
pushes in until the air is filled
with wet cotton and to breathe
is to die.

My twenty-four hours stretch ahead
like a road going nowhere
through a sterile void
in a barren world.

If the phone should ring
the vibration would never stop.
But I would not hear it, only feel
the ripples of sound against my skin.

I need a purpose,
a voice to speak my name.
Then I will know that I am
and that I still live.

Martha Ferguson
1996

TOUCH OF LOVE

You touch my heart.

Not the animated muscle
that keeps me breathing,
and the blood circulating
and enables me to think and move.

You touch my heart.

The inner core of me
that gives me pleasure and pain,
makes me cry and laugh,
see beauty and feel joy.

You create love when
you touch my heart.

Martha Ferguson
2006

WISHES FOR KENZIE

Sunshine in daytime,
Starshine at night.
Cloudless skies
Always bright.
Joy and love
surrounding you.
And all your wishes
coming true.

Grandma
March, 2001

Martha Ferguson

WISHES FOR ELLIE

A bluebird on your shoulder,
Diamond dewdrops on the grass.
Butterflies and fireflies
Dancing as you pass.
Sunshine in daytime,
Moonbeams at night,
So that your pathway
Will always be bright.
Happiness and joy
All your life through.
Gentleness and love
Ever surrounding you.

Grandma
August, 1997

Martha Ferguson