Ode To Mama, Ode To The Past Poem by Cris Ben

Suddenly thoughts of my mama rose,
her stories before bedtime
both silly and mind-bending
that my brothers, sister and I would love
to giggle at, oh her crinkled nose!

Back when we were still young
the ABC's, the numbers
and trivia she'd test us with; and,
the nursery songs wherein now the words faded
but not the hymn and warmth of her song,

Works every time like an earworm
during some quite time
of reminiscnce and yearning of
those years gone by
in a room at home away from home-

I shall remember counting those lizards
on the frames of our ceilingless roof
(through an old mosquito net)
devouring moths around that faint light bulb-

I shall remember that spaceless feeling
of sleeping crowdedly packed in a big bamboo bed
with my mama, papa, sister and brothers'
limbs tied to one another in that bond called love-

I shall remember the feeling of poverty
when we needed no more than anything
than each other smiles and bursting laughters,
actually 'each other' would suffice-