She never closed her eyes in sleep till we were all in bed; <br />On party nights till we came home she often sat and read. <br />We little thought about it then, when we were young and gay, <br />How much the mother worried when we children were away. <br />We only knew she never slept when we were out at night, <br />And that she waited just to know that we'd come home all right. <br /> <br />Why, sometimes when we'd stayed away till one or two or three, <br />It seemed to us that mother heard the turning of the key; <br />For always when we stepped inside she'd call and we'd reply, <br />But we were all too young back then to understand just why. <br />Until the last one had returned she always kept a light, <br />For mother couldn't sleep until she'd kissed us all good night. <br /> <br />She had to know that we were safe before she went to rest; <br />She seemed to fear the world might harm the ones she loved the best. <br />And once she said: 'When you are grown to women and to men, <br />Perhaps I'll sleep the whole night through; I may be different then.' <br />And so it seemed that night and day we knew a mother's care- <br />That always when we got back home we'd find her waiting there. <br /> <br />Then came the night that we were called to gather round her bed: <br />'The children all are with you now,' the kindly doctor said. <br />And in her eyes there gleamed again the old-time tender light <br />That told she had been waiting just to know we were all right. <br />She smiled the old-familiar smile, and prayed to God to keep <br />Us safe from harm throughout the years, and then she went to sleep.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-mother-watch/
