These are poems that I found in the old Relief Society Magazines.
I hope that you like them as much as I do.

And All the Love Between
Her aged steps well into his toddling ones,
As hand-in-hand "to grandma's house" they tread...
He, with only a few short years behind...
And she, with only a few brief years ahead.

Alda L. Brown

Unsaid Words

There is no song that larks can sing,
No perfume roses shed,
That takes the place within our lives
Of loving words, unsaid.

Zara Sabin

The Smallest Part

Love so easily understands --
What you can see is the smallest part;
You don't need Christmas in your hands
When you have Christmas in your heart.

Katheryn Kay

Mother of Pearl

My mother means a loving smile
Upon life's stormy sea;
A gentle hand, a knowing heart,
All these, and more, to me.

She laughs with me and shares my joys,
Shares all my sorrows, too;
She gives me strength, and when I fall,
She starts me out anew.

She has borne her heavy load
Long and valiantly--
Without her life's companion,
She has been father and mother to me.

O Lord, wilt thou watch over her
And give her strength the while
Until the day she's called away,
My mother and her smile.

Susan Diane Clement

Flowers For Winter

"Mom," called my son one wintery day,
"The flowers outside have all gone away."
"You don't have any to sit on your sink,
So I'll make you some; I can, I think."

He took his tinker toys, and worked with care,
And made me some flowers; those wood ones there.
No flower in the world matches the beauty of those;
No tulip, no orchid, no hyacinth nor rose.

Fay Ottesen

Cooked Out

I'm tired of eating,
And tired of cooking,
Tired of planning,
And tired of looking.

I can't seem to find
A wholesome treat
My family considers
Fit to eat!

Mildred Barthel

Directions

A little child asked the way,
And do you point and tell?
Or do you show him day by day,
And bid him follow well?

A little heart is broken, lost--
And do you watch and weep,
Or do you firmly lift it up
And save it from the deep?

A little soul has strayed away,
And do you stand and scold,
Or do you gently lead him back
Into his Father's fold?

To us is given the power to guide--
From God, a sacred trust,
That each child's steps directed be,
And lead the way we must!

Dixie Randall Oveson

Mother Love

When you were a girl in the long, long ago,
With no cares except lessons, or maybe a beau,
Were you asked by a neighbor, a very dear friend,
To be with her babe and your services lend?
With your arms about baby in tender embrace,
Examining each line of it's dear little face,
As it dropped off to sleep under your rhythmic line,
Did you ever say lightly, "I wish it were mine"?

And when you were married to that handsome beau,
Who courted you gallantly years, years ago,
And God blessed you with babies with eyes brown and blue,
With features of yours and your husband's, too,
Did your soul burst with happiness, satisfaction, and joy
As you gazed with fond love on the face of your boy?
As you sang to him, crooned to him, thought him divine,
Did your heart throb the murmur, "I'm thankful he's mine?"

And then, as the years hurried happily on,
And the mates of the children in time came along,
When you first held your grandchild pressed close to your heart,
Did you wish for one like him--to make a new start?
No! Woman's life is divided in three in life's test--
Maidenhood, motherhood, then self-culture and rest.
As you look on the forms of the grandchildren nine.
You're contented to say glowingly, "I love them as mine."

Emma Ray Riggs McKay

Perennials

I have three flowers in my garden
I tend with loving care,
For they will grow and days will come
When they will not be there.

Three little girls in bloom--
A bright bouquet to light a room.

Oh I am seldom lonely anymore;
They bring the wide world to my door,
And take me with them, hand in hand,
Into a more enchanted land.

Marian Crawford Anderson

A Mother-in-Law Speaks

I have daughters-in-law and sons-in-law,
I love them, they're near to my heart.
I am happy each day that they're with us to stay,
And now of our family a part.

If I had my say in matters of state,
I would hold to one thought as my aim;
I would curtail a phrase, and quickly erase
That caption "in law" from the name.

Christine Stacey

Old-Fashioned

Some people call me old-fashioned
To bake bread the way I do,
But one thing I have noticed
Is that they're old-fashioned too;
For just like folks ages ago,
They like a slice--or three,
Spread with rich old-fashioned jam,
Also made by me.

Ruth G. Rothe

Dear Lord

Kindly give to me each day,
A prayer to guide me on my way.
A blessing, give me strength to live,
And learn to love and to forgive.
Help me pure and sinless be,
To greet each day with faith in thee.

Mae L. Curtis

Prayer of a Visiting Teacher

I pray, Lord, as a teacher
To be worthy of my call;
To strive for understanding
And have charity for all.

Teach me to have forbearance
That I shall not try to judge
The weakness of others
But keep free from fault and grudge.

Help me to know in knowledge
Yet be humble and devout;
Guide me to teach with wisdom
And leave faith where there is doubt.

Give me a willing spirit;
Make me mindful of the scope
Of ways to help where there is need
Of comfort, care, and hope.

Wilt thou grant my supplication
And bless me to the end,
That every sister I may visit
Will find in me a friend

Lucile R. Smith

Of the Heart

A thing of beauty never dies,
For very like a rose,
When tended, watered, cared for,
Beauty blossoms as it grows.

But a rose when left untended,
Will never rise in bloom,
And a ting of beauty surely dies
If lost as in a tomb...

I own a garden full of flowers,
I have tended every start,
For every bush was once a slip
A gift from some friend's heart.

Linda Clarke

The Greatest of These

The depth of thought that we attain,
The wisdom of our searching here,
The knowledge that we win by faith
Are treasures life will hold most dear.

The sage who works with questing mind,
The brush that paints to please the eye,
The poet's meter, word, and rhyme,
These are gifts the heart holds high.

Yet these are signs along the way
That all our gifts are heaven's cost,
that learning truth, we learn to love
the poor, the lonely, and the lost.

To give the hungry more than bread,
To ransom captives from their chain,
For painter, poet, and the sage
These are treasure, gift, and gain.

Carolle Denton

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