The Lanyard

I've loved this poem since I first heard it. It says it all. As a child, I didn't do enough to show it, but I'm so thankful for the difference you've made in my life. (By the way, do you still have that cross stitched wall hanging I made you?) Love you, Mom!


The Lanyard - Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

For Mom

Top Ten Best Things About My Mom

(There are way more than 10 things, so it was hard to narrow it down. I had Will and Ian help with the list.)

10. Her sense of humor. (Holly, you're still fun to be with:-)

9. Her sense of fun. S'mores, camping, and going to the pool are just some of the fun memories Will and Ian have from going to Grandma's house.

8. Her culinary skills. "Manicotti or chicken tetrazzini?" Ian wanted to add "her soup" to the list.

7. Her love for my dad.

6. Her gift of hospitality. Mom knows how to make people feel welcome. No matter where she's lived, her house is always "home" to me. (See Will's comment on #4.)

5. Her remarkable ability to see only the best in people. ("You know Quaddafi's mellowed.")

4. Her "grandmothering" skills. As Will and Ian say, "She's nice and always welcoming, and she helps us make play dough."

3. Her teaching skills. She has taught me many life lessons, including the important, "It's not about me."

2. Her heart for people. Mom has more than just four daughters. Many young women across the planet would call her "Mama." My life has been much richer thanks to our extended family.

1. Her love for God. Every day, without fail, mom can be found in the morning spending time in the word, praying.

   

Mom, Dad, and Li-Ting Chiang, a member of our extended family.