Mother's Day

Janet Wong


Wong, Janet. 1999. The rainbow hand: poems about mothers and children. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. ISBN: 0-689-82148-4.


Introduction

In this poem a daughter worries that her mother won't like her Mother's Day gift just because it didn't come from a store and it wasn't wrapped in a fancy box.

Mother's Day


Mother's Day morning

and I have no present.

No money.

I walk outside.


Kicking the dirt,

my toe hits a rock.

A smooth speckled oval,

it could be a gargoyle egg.

Or a paperweight.

Stuck in a box,

wrapped in the gold paper

Mother saved from Christmas,

the old tape peeled off,

it looks like a good gift.


She shakes the box, smiling,

while I stare at her hands

untying the ribbon,

tearing the paper

lifting the lid.

She holds the rock with flat fingers,

like some rotten egg.


Mother walks into the kitchen,

puzzling. She puts a clove of garlic

on her thick round cutting board

and brings the rock down hard.


"A garlic rock," she says,

pulling chunks of garlic

from the broken skin.

"Just what I needed."


Extension

Have students make homemade gifts and/or cards for Mother's Day.


Five Poems


Module One: The Poetry Environment Module Two: Major Poets
Module Three: Poetry Performance Module Four: Poetry Across The Curriculum
Module Five: Multicultural Poetry Module Six: Responding To Poetry
Author Study: Janet Wong

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