M-O-T-H-E-R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell
"MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
---Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

A BOY'S MOTHER

My mother she's so good to me,
Ef I was good as I could be,
I couldn't be as good--no, sir!--
Can't any boy be good as her!

She loves me when I'm glad er sad;
She loves me when I'm good er bad;
An', what's a funniest thing, she says
She loves me when she punishes.

I don't like her to punish me,--
That don't hurt,--but it hurts to see
Her cryin',--Nen I cry; and' nen
We both cry an' be good again.

She loves me when she cuts and sews
My little cloak and' Sund'y clothes;
An' when my Pa comes home to tea,
She loves him 'most as much as me.

She laughs an' tells him all I said,
An' grabs me up and pats my head;
And I hug her, and hug my Pa
An' love him purt' nigh as much as Ma.