I watched you at soccer practice today.
From the car I watched your familiar gait across the field. I could see your smiling eyes,
As you ran care-free with your friends.
I was not allowed onto the field with the parents because of social distancing,
But I was as expectant as you were for the goal.
While the world anticipates the next wave,
I am like a surfer on the board waiting,
And I’m holding you with me there on the board. You may not know it yet,
But I am willing to cover you as much as I can,
With my whole heart even,
Even if I don’t have all of the answers to the questions you are asking about why this is all happening and when it will end.
I have become familiar with this lurch from deep within,
The uneasiness of the approaching wave,
And I know I must put on my bravest face for you.
So I determine to step up on the board like a surfer and to help you stand up there with me, And tell you about the thrill of the wave,
And all we will see and do,
That would never have been done nor see had the still surface of the sea never been shaken.
It will be our adventure,
And one day you will tell your children too,
About the sea and the surf and the ends of the ocean we explored,
With tears and laughter and adventurous spirits,
Seeing everything and its value as though they were real treasure which we were seeing and discovering for the first time,
Because we dared to face the ocean and its waves, with courage.
You came back to the car.
Your coach did not have an answer yet as to how the soccer season would progress.
He didn’t have the answers we needed either.
But you smiled your biggest smile,
And I found my courage again and forgot the wave for the greater fire inside of me.
Who are you wave?
I am a mom.
Listen as I roar!
A poem written by Heather Djunga as South Africa anticipates its third wave of Covid-19.
