Mother's Love – by Richard Maxwell (from the book of Life Lines)

Long, long ago, so I have been told,

Two angels once met on the streets paved with gold.

By the stars in your crown, said one to the other,

I see that on earth you, too, were a mother.

And by the blue-tinted halo you wear,

You, too, have known sorrow and deepest despair.

Ah, yes, she replied, I once had a son,

A sweet little lad, full of laughter and fun.

But tell of your child. Oh, I knew I was blest.

From the moment I first held him close to my breast.

And my heart almost burst with the joy of that day.

Ah, yes, said the other, I felt the same way.

The first one continued, The first steps he took, 

So eager and breathless the sweet startled look,

Which came over his face he trusted me so!

Ah, yes, sighed the other, How well do I know!

But soon he had grown to a tall handsome boy.

So stalwart and kind and it gave me such joy!

To have him just walk down the street by my side.

Ah, yes, said the other, I felt the same pride.

How often I shielded and spared him from pain,

And when he for others was so cruelly slain.

When they crucified him and they spat in his face,

How gladly would I have hung there in his place!

A moment of silence Oh, then you are she,

The Mother of Christ, and she fell on one knee.

But the blessed one raised her up, drawing her near,

And kissed from the cheek of the woman a tear.

Tell me the name of the son you loved so,

That I may share with you your grief and your woe.

She lifted her eyes, looking straight at the other,

He was Judas Iscariot. I am his mother.