My Greatest Champion

God chose you

Heralded a champion

In the spirit that animates

In the spirit that marks

You and your kind

That spirit is undeniable might

A monumental mountain

Of magnificent height

So many like you embellish your essence

And that is why we write

In poem and in song

So, here is mine

Thank you

Thank you for teaching me

In the best of places

In the garden of my youth

Our home

Where, over time

The seeds of your benevolence

Sprouted as the firm-stemmed flowers

Of all that is good in me

As the water of your wisdom

Sprinkled on endlessly

The droplets riding a yellow shower

Of nurturing rays beaming

From the warm sun of your compassion

Thank you for teaching me there

In the garden of my youth

Our home

Through your relationship

With the beloved man I call father

Thank you for teaching me

That you had every right

To fight the misplaced constraints of society

In making your mark and trying to prove

You are better, smarter, or wiser than him

But you did not

Thank you for teaching me

That children of prosperity

Are born when woman and man

Hold hands together

When their spirits unite

When one does not claim

Dominance over the other

Surely, you were the greatest woman

I will ever know

Often right, while he was wrong

Yet not always demanding correction

Because you honored something

Sacred and greater

In eternal love

And in doing so, you delivered

An arrow of awe, humbly piercing

His heart and all hearts

Who had the pleasure

To be touched by your grace

The grace of a champion

A champion who

Carried a radiant mantle of guidance

In her right

Dismantling the shrouding clouds

Of fear and worry

As her mantle

Shined through the nights

When we lost our way

A champion who

Carried a hearty gourd of affection

In her left

Pouring it over

Our recurring wildfire of agony

Of heartache, and of woe

That she claimed as her own

Protecting and preserving

The sacred tree of our innocent peace

Deep-rooted in the soil of hope

Where our dreams

Would not burn, and

Would continue to play

In ever-joyful harmony

Oh Ma

Oh queen of queens

Oh hero of my time

Oh giver and guardian

Of the purest humanity

That lives inside me

Sown by the threads

Of your beneficence

You were

And always will be

My greatest champion

---

~ My Greatest Champion