This is a photo of me with my Grandmothers at the launch of my book “Big Picture Parents” in 2017. I dedicated the book to them for inspiring me both as a mother and as a writer. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Granny Amy last week (she’s on the right of the photo).

Amy Gladys McGrath was a prodigious writer – of poetry, plays, musicals, historical fiction and non-fiction. (You can now find some of her poems on my website here.) My parents gave me the middle name of Amy, never knowing what that “seed” might produce in me.

I have written two poems in honour of my beloved Grandmothers.

Seed of Amy            

When I was born, I had your name,
Planted in the midst of mine –
A tiny seed, two syllables,
New parents’ nod to family line.

The seed lay quiet, waiting there,
No teacher gave it water,
Until the school of motherhood,
Raised “Amy” in granddaughter.

With burning sun of questioning,
What things my clan should know,
And rain of tears for wisdom lost,
As generations go.

The gift that I inherited,
This mind that grasps and quests,
(And ‘til it maps the scheme of things,
This mind that never rests),

Has given birth in fertile soil,
To thoughts and written words;
No longer waiting quietly,
It’s yearning to be heard.

Now as I seek to add one book,
To yours up on the shelf,
I only hope to dignify,
Your name within myself.

The Shape of All We Lack

Restless, on whim and wish we drift;
No map or compass for our quest.
Homeless, when parents move or rift;
No hearth for kin to roost and rest.

Rootless, we seek all bonds to loose;
No ties to past or flesh and blood.
Faithless, preferring freedom to truth;
No thanks to the Giver of life and love.

Trace the shape of all we lack;
The meaning missing from our toil;
You’ll see a woman looking back;
Who bore our seed within her soil.

Grandmother: gentle guide on our quest;
Place of welcome, home and rest.
Grandmother: forging bonds of flesh;
Our tie to ancient faithfulness.

In holy code, children repay
With honour those we sprang from;
We mark their words and learn their ways;
For their weight is not burden but anchor.