Happy Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day!

This is a piece I just finished last night for Journal52. I reused photocopied hands (mine and Lilah's) from a chunky book project from a few years back. Quite a few years actually, judging by the size of Lilah's hands and my wedding ring!

I transferred the hands using Sheer Heaven, then tangled the background with a brown Micron pen to look sort of henna-tattoo-ish.

The song is Mother's Hands by Debi Smith (one of the Four Bitchin' Babes - she has a gorgeous voice and great songs). I had actually written some of the words directly on my hand before photocopying. It's a lovely song.

Here are the lyrics (borrowed from Debi Smith's website):


(I HAVE MY) MOTHER'S HANDS

by Debi Smith

Katie had just had her lunch, it caught me unaware
I cleaned some milk up off the floor, and was sitting in a kitchen chair
I had an independent daughter, like her mother beforehand
When I reached out to trace her little face, I couldn't understand
When I saw my mother's hand

        Chorus:        
        I have my mother's hands, and I have my mother's voice
        And I have my mother's eyes, though I have a daughter's choice
        I thought I carved my own life in unknown, uncharted lands
        I never thought I'd look down and see my mother's hands

I remember my Aunt Edna - looking straight into my eyes
My eyes, the eyes of a young girl, trying so hard to disguise
What I knew she would say to me as she gently stroked my hair,
"Each day more than the other, you're just like your mother"
I thought it wasn't fair that she saw my mother there (Chorus)

                 I wanted to be my own self, I thought I knew it all
                 I'd stomp and buck and whinny, like a young colt in a stall
                 And I bet I was a handful, though I didn't understand
                 I was always in the best care when in my mother's hands

The other night I lay dreaming my mother held my face
She kissed me on the forehead, and then she took her place
Among the mothers and the daughters in the ever changing sands
One-by-one their time had come when they'd soon understand
They all had their mothers' hands (Chorus)

c 1995, Degan Music, ASCAP