The New Vision is running a special section ahead of Mother’s Day. Usually stories, songs and poems about mothers make me feel warm and cozy and safe. However, today’s submission, “Mom the Beloved” by someone called Joseph Kibalama, made me cold all over.
Mom,
Of light skin, smooth hair and long
Her smell is sweet and gentle
She never breathes sweat like gatherers of dry wood
She has no bald patch on her head like those who carry heavy loads
Her teeth are white
Her eyes are like those of a new-born fawn
That delights in the milk that flows for the first time
From the antelope’s udder
Neither her heel nor palm are rough, but sweet to touch
Like liver or better still
The fluffy down of Kapok
Maybe Freud’s Oedipus Complex theory was actually right on the mark.
