A smile for the labour ©JK.Leahy

A smile for labour

Her hands once tender

Cultivated hardened soil

Hardening her soft hands

In labour she offered you

Tired, dried, and withered

Kept in safe, warmth and fed

In her heart’s tender glow

She watched you grow

Watching growth take you

Blossomed and robust you

Moist, fed and comforted you

Then a gift arrived, packaged

In reward, for a hand tendered

You surprised her

Your first smile, a glorious bloom

For the hardened hand

Her heart lifted

And smiled