Mother Smiles Photo

Photographer’s Note

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To all mothers in Vietnam
and to those who lost their mother
like me...

*

A Mother Smiles

A mother smiles, through her cheers,
her child is thriving, safe and happy,
views Life through freedom’s eyes,
sees opportunity and adventure…
she continues, striving,
to give her light to her child.

A mother smiles, through her tears,
her child is starving, cold and dying,
watches her with beggared eyes,
sees veils of darkness lowering…
she continues, lip carving,
to send her love to her child.

A mother smiles, through her fears,
her child surviving, burnt and armless,
blasted memories shine in his eyes,
sees bombs dropping from darkened skies…
she continues, contriving,
to give some hope to her child.

A mother smiles, through the years,
her children arriving, grown and lessoned,
maternal melodies glow from their eyes,
they see hope and embrace the circle…
she continues, thriving,
weaving Time’s children’s Lives.

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
5/11/03©

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For those who prefer B&W, here is a desaturated copy . Please share with me. Thanks.

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Sue77584, fijiphil, ChristineLe, NhatMinh has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

daddo (11961) 2006-05-10 5:48

Greetings Thanh. A beautiful portrait, all the more filled with pathos, considering what this woman had seen in her lifetime in a country which had been traumatised beyond belief. My heart goes out to her. Your gentle colours and the soft light make the picture more precious. Regards, Klaudio

kfreud (1231) 2006-05-10 5:50

Simple life can give great joy!
Wonderful picture!
Karl

sabyasachi1212 (19552) 2006-05-10 5:53

Hi Thanh,
That smile is worth a million dollars. Beautiful portrrait. I would prefer the B&W format though.
Thanks for sharing
Sabyasachi

TRASH (0) 2006-05-10 6:11

Wonderful smile,
Wonderful poem,
and a wonderful dedication.
Yes, I am one of those who lost mother over 3 decades.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Regards,

Tattoo (468) 2006-05-10 7:26 [Comment]

Show Comment

faubry (32974) 2006-05-10 7:41

very beautiful portrait! sweet colors, great smile for you..beautiful texte and dedicace
bravo
francine

fijiphil (1345) 2006-05-10 14:36

Great portrait. You have really caught a snapshot of her personality here.

BrianGraney (1736) 2006-05-10 17:52

Hello Thanh,

Lovely portrait. Interesting that although she seems old, all the lines on her face are laughter lines.
I love the muted colours and prefer the colour version - I like the subtle harmony of the tones.
Very apt note, too.
best wishes
Brian

Sue77584 (0) 2006-05-10 20:26

I really appreciate Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen’s poem that works well with your picture.
Since I consider your posting a “gift”, I would like to express my thanks to the poet and to you.
Your posting reminds me a famous poem & song in Vietnamese by Nhất Hạnh and Phạm Thế Mỹ:

Bông hồng cài áo

Một bông Hồng cho em
Một bông Hồng cho anh
Và một bông Hồng cho những ai
Cho những ai đang còn Mẹ
Đang còn Mẹ để lòng vui sướng hơn
Rủi mai này Mẹ hiền có mất đi
Như đóa hoa không mặt trời
Như trẻ thơ không nụ cười
Và đời mình không lớn khôn thêm
Như bầu trời thiếu ánh sao đêm

Mẹ, Mẹ là giòng suối diệu hiền
Mẹ, Mẹ là bài hát thần tiên
Là bóng mát trên cao
Là mắt sáng trăng sao
Là ánh đuốc trong đêm
Khi lạc lối

Mẹ, Mẹ là lọn mía ngọt ngào
Mẹ, Mẹ là nãi chuối, buồng cau
Là tiếng dế đêm thâu
Là nắng ấm nương rau
Là vốn liếng yêu thương
Cho cuộc đời…

I wish someone can give me the English translation.

XN

Yuanclarkson (38) 2006-05-10 20:36

Lovely and gentle smile.
I can say she is aged but not old.
A nice topic to move toward the meaningful day, MOTHER'S DAY.
TFS,

ChristineLe (59) 2006-05-10 21:06

The photo,
The poem by Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen,
The lyric of the song added by Xuyen Nguyen,
The Mother's Day to come this weekend,

All those prompted me to search my archive and I was lucky to find the article wrote by The Reverend Nhất Hạnh in 1962. It's too long to fit the limited space here so I will re-post it in "Discussions" to share with you.

Thanks for a meaningful posting for "MOTHER"!

Regards,

CL

erdna (5360) 2006-05-10 23:56

A very nice portrait photo of this woman and a well chosen prose for it. Very well done Thanh!

Andre'

ErinElizabeth (0) 2006-05-11 10:53

I love the photo, Thanh. It has wonderful shadings of subtle, interlocking colors, the grays, the maroon oranges and the whites. Most striking, in the middle of the 'pattern', is the pink, laughing face, with the gray-white hair and grayer-white teeth. She has no frown wrinkles, Thanh... Only wrinkles of kept happiness, faith and totality of living. Even my two girls, 11 and 15, called her wrinkles 'laugh lines'.

Our Western cultures have barely had, and, will never again have, such a face.

My frown lines are deep, yet shallow. Hers, deeper by far, in meaning.

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen

veronika (6038) 2006-05-12 10:06

Hello Thanh, how are you? Thanks for kind words on my shot, im happy you like :)
This picture is so great and joyful and your note beautiful but for me very sad also.. :(
Wish you have nice day full of sun :)
Take care,
Vero

teutza (10574) 2006-05-20 19:05

it's so nice to see old people lough.and she is a real exemple!
we all loose someone we love...i just hope that the ones who are not with us anymore are living in a place better than ours!

NgocSon (282) 2006-06-20 17:53

I viewed your photo with great pleasure.
Thanks for the topic that offers a wonderful poem about Mother.
Sincerely,

NgocSon

goodwill (4035) 2006-09-20 21:55

Oh!
Mother is always alive in our blood, bone even in the bonemarrows, not to speak of our emotions, feelings and heart, but a loss is a loss and time never heals these wounds.
Rajeev