“What’s a Mother to Do?” from “Poems & One-Liners,” by Ric Masten

Blog-of-the-month topic: Mothers Day Month

Ric Masten–Troubador Minister for the Unitarian Universalist–gave so much wisdom and pleasure. Ric’s poem set to music–“Let It Be a Dance”– has to be his most well-known and loved. It’s a lilting tune with uplifting words that truly makes you want to dance through life.

His three books “Poems & One-Liners” found a home for a wide range of wry and wise takes on life. My friend Marcy Burns sent me “Take 3: Not Dead Yet” in this series. The one-liners are sharply defined drawings executed–as their name suggests–in one line.

Ric wrote the tribute to Nancy Malone shared yesterday.

Here’s one that shows a mother’s mind when it’s disturbed. You oughta see the one-liner drawing that illustrated the poem.

What’s a Mother to Do?
by Ric Masten

What’s a mother to do
when a son
with no visible means of support
wears Salvatore Ferragamos
drives a Maserati
and makes payments
on a two-thousand-dollar-a-month
apartment

what else
but wonder out loud
about the enormous diamond ring
even Liberace
would have found tasteless
“Don’t worry Mom,
it cost a lot less than you’d think.”
“And for the life of me,” she mused
laughing darkly
“I can’t decide whether that was the good
or the bad news.”