Alison Jones, Oxford, UK

Originally published May 2016 and republished with the express permission of the author.

A Shout Out for the Mothers

Give me a shout for all the mothers, biological and others,

who do the mothering thing,

who feed and nurture and cook and look up everything,

to make their right choices, in a cacophony of voices

that would tell them how to be.

Give me a shout for all the mothers who couldn’t,

so made the hardest of decisions,

and lie awake night after night pining for what might have been,

the life they might have seen,

but for whatever reason, it wasn’t their season

and there can be no revisions.

Give me a shout for the aunts who visit

laden with love and toys for small girls and boys,

who flock their ankles and thank profusely, physically.

Give me a shout for the friends, childless,

who step bravely into our family spaces,

intent to playing their way through the day

with creativity and integrity, guiding small ones

in their own becoming, from nothing to everything.

Give me a shout for the grandmothers, who’ve done it all before,

but let the next generation learn beneath their stern yet loving gaze,

in a space they can call their own.

Give me a shout for the mothers in darkness,

hiding from a light too bright, who struggle

to face the world, with love and support,

may they gently unfurl.

Give me a shout for those mothers who wanted to be

but found pregnancy more of a challenge than they realized

and whose hopes vanished before their eyes.

Give me a shout for the mothers who have passed

from physical form and those we mourn.

Give me a shout for all those who mother,

doing great things, bringing the next generation through,

so they can do what they need to do,

so give me a shout for all the mothers, biological and many others.

Alison Jones is an LLL Leader, a writer, and teacher from Oxford. She is a mother to three children. She is passionate about breastfeeding and advocates for women and families.