Hi! I am Alyssa Stehl, a Sophomore at Chester High School at the time of writing this. I love writing (even if sometimes I’m not good) and find joy in expressing myself. I even started writing short homemade books in kindergarten. A few of my favorite things in life are: nature, family, singing, music, my close friends, and food!

I wrote this poem in honor of my late mother, Karen. She died before my freshman year from liver failure. When I saw that I could write a Mother’s Day poem, I felt inspired to write something in honor of her. I made three poems and combined some of my favorite stanzas and lines to create this heartfelt poem. The title ‘Loving Hibiscus’ means a lot to me because Hibiscus was my mom’s favorite flower and was the last gift I gave her before she passed shortly after Mother’s Day. This really means a lot to me to write something about her, and I am so happy to put myself out there in honor of my mom as well!

Loving Hibiscus

Mother,
I remember it all like a soft song.
Peaceful, melodic and never wrong.
Your voice which made birds sing,
In the sunny glow of spring.

“I love you to the moon and back”
An everlasting promise
Spoken by a goddess

“You are my sunshine”
A tune that stuck
And left me starstruck

Your smile was everlasting
Even as you were dying

You were brave
But in a cascading haze
You slipped away

But birds will still chirp
And life will still work
Losing you was hard
But I will never forget your song

I swear on my life
I will keep loving you,
Mom.