LÁ 'LE MAMAÍ - MOTHER'S DAY

Joan of Arc - Gaston Bussiere

Lá 'le Mamaí faoi mhaise! Happy Mother's Day! Best wishes to my own mother and especially to all my mother-writer friends - you are my inspiration.

I looked through my poems, trying to find a cheery poem about mothering. Um, I don't seem to have any particularly light-hearted ones. Anyway, I've decided to share this one, 'La Pucelle', which was in my collection Tattoo : Tatú. It's about Joan of Arc and her mother. It's sort of sad but it's about the love we have for our mothers.

Have a great day!

          La Pucelle

In the hush of my father’s house,

before dusk rustles over the horizon,

I take off the dress my mother made

– it’s as ruby-red as St. Michael’s cloak –

and with a slitch of linen, bind my breasts.

By the greasy light of a candle,

I shear my hair to the style of a boy,

in the looking-glass, I see my girlhood

swallowed up in a tunic and pants,

I lace them tightly to safeguard myself.

My soldiers call me ‘pucelle’, maiden,

they cleave a suit of armour to my body,

and know, when following my banner

over ramparts into Orléans, that

there will only ever be one like me.

When the pyre-flames fly up my legs,

I do not think of the Dauphin,

or my trial as a heretical pretender,

but see my mother, head bent low,

sewing a red dress for her daughter to wear.