Poem for Mother's Day, Baby Sheep and Geese

1939
By Marjorie Agosín
Translated by Cola Franzen and Monica Bruno Galmozzi

[I]

She knew how to seduce her destiny,
predict the time of flight
In 1939, dressed in garments
of night and happiness
at the threshold of a fearful
Hamburg Harbor
resolved to live,
she sailed
to Southern seas.

In 1938, the windows
of her house of water and stone
resisted the extreme
horror of that night
of broken crystals.

She, my grandmother,
taught me to recognize
the landscape of danger,
the shards of fear,
the impenetrable faces
of women,
fleeing,
accused,
audacious in their will to live.

[II]

Helena Broder,
created a domain
of papers, fragile vessels,
clandestine poems and
notes to be made,
discreet addresses.
With little baggage,
like a frail and ancient
angel,
she arrived,
although ready to embark again.

I survived next to her
and I was thankful for the gift of her presence.

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I had a completely awesome Saturday, though a long one! In the morning, my friend Annmarie came over and drove up with my family to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, at which we saw many adorable sheep and lambs, fiber crafts, angora goats, alpacas, bunnies, jewelry, food vendors, and my friend Ngech. We met Paul's parents at the gate and went to the barns and exhibit tents with them; we had brought sandwiches and they had brought a peanut butter chocolate cake, plus we got ice cream while listening to Maggie Sansone and a group of local folk musicians.

Though it was drizzling when we left, fearing a storm, it turned into a gorgeous low-70s sunny afternoon, so we drove across the top of Montgomery County to Montgomery Village and walked around Lake Whetstone, where we saw ducks, turtles, cormorants, great blue herons, green herons, a snake, many songbirds, and several families of goslings -- some on islands where we couldn't get close, some in the lake, some in the grass. Someone was drumming on a back porch and there were several families fishing around the lake.

We took Annmarie back to her car, packed up sandwiches for dinner, and went to the Olney Theatre Center, where the National Players were performing A Midsummer Night's Dream -- the same cast we saw over the summer at Olney's outdoor venue, but tonight they were on the main stage, and we ate dinner in the big center lobby after picking up our tickets. Adam needed to see a play for his drama class, and although he complains about Shakespeare on principle, both kids laughed through the entire production, which I think had better timing than when we saw it in the summer though it's magical to see that play under the stars with lightning bugs around. It's a wonderful cast, especially the actress playing Helena, who I think is a hard character to get right.

I only had time to glance through my photos so I am just going to post a couple. Happy Mother's Day!