W. Austin Gardner
Mother Is a Word Called Love

Mother is a word called love,
And all the world is mindful of
That the love that’s given and shown to others
Is different from the love of mothers . . .
For mothers play the leading roles
In giving birth to little souls—
For though small souls are heaven-sent
And we realize they’re only lent,
It takes a mother’s loving hands
And her gentle heart that understands
To mold and shape this little life
And shelter it from storm and strife . . .
No other love than mother love
Could do the things required of
The one to whom God gives the keeping
Of His wee lambs, awake or sleeping . . .
So mothers are a special race
God sent to earth to take His place,
And “Mother” is a lovely name That even saints are proud to claim.
Helen Steiner Rice, Virginia Ruehlmann, and Patsy Clairmont, The Poems and Prayers of Helen Steiner Rice (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2004).