30 Heartfelt Mother’s Day Poems to Share on Cards, Social Media, and Gifts

Mother’s Day is a heartwarming occasion to celebrate the incredible women who have shaped our lives with their love, strength, and unwavering support. 🌸💐

Whether it’s through gentle words, comforting hugs, or timeless life lessons, mothers leave an indelible mark on our hearts. And what better way to express our love, gratitude, and admiration than with the beauty of poetry?

From sweet and sentimental to playful and fun, these 30 Mother’s Day poems are perfect for sharing on cards, social media, or as a heartfelt gift. Let these touching verses speak the words we sometimes find hard to say. 🌟💖

1. ‘To My Mother’ by Christina Rossetti

“To-day’s your natal day,
Sweet flowers I bring;
Mother, accept, I pray,
My offering.
And may you happy live,
And long us bless:
Receiving as you give
Great happiness.”

2. ‘Mother o’ Mine’ by Rudyard Kipling

“If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!”

3. ‘Mother’ by Lola Ridge

“Your love was like moonlight
to cool and bless,
to melt a frozen world
of lovelessness.

You coaxed the brooding sorrow
out of its dense retreat
with your radiant smile,
And while your lips were sweet

And your hand was tender,
Your hand on mine
In the dark of the deepening night,
You sang to me in the quiet,
Whispering calm.”

4. ‘A Mother’s Love’ by Helen Steiner Rice

“A mother’s love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain.

It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away.”

5. ‘Only One Mother’ by George Cooper

“Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of lambs in the sunny weather.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.”

6. ‘My Mother’ by Ann Taylor

“Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.

Who taught my infant lips to pray
And love God’s holy book and day,
And walk in wisdom’s pleasant way?
My mother.”

7. ‘Mother’s Day’ by Grace Crowell

A Mother’s love is something
That no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
And of sacrifice and pain.

It is endless and unselfish
And enduring come what may,
For nothing can destroy it
Or take that love away.

It is patient and forgiving
When all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
Even though the heart is breaking.

It believes beyond believing
When the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
Of the rarest, brightest gems.

It is far beyond defining,
It defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
Like the mysteries of creation.

A many splendored miracle
Man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
Of God’s tender guiding hand.

8. ‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.

But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

9. ‘The Mother’ by Gwendolyn Brooks

Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.

You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
You will never wind up the sucking-thumb
Or scuttle off ghosts that come.

You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,
Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.

I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children.
I have contracted. I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
Believe that in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.
Though why should I whine,
Whine that the crime was other than mine?—
Since anyhow you are dead.

10. ‘My Mother’s Hands’ by Unknown

My mother’s hands, so soft and warm,
Held me close when I was born.
They dried my tears and wiped my nose,
They held me up as I arose.

My mother’s hands, now rough with age,
Still reach for me despite the stage.
They hold me close, they comfort me,
They show me love eternally.

These hands have labored through the years,
And wiped away my many tears.
They’ve clapped for me when I was strong,
They’ve held me tight when things went wrong.

11. ‘The Lullaby’ by Louise Glück

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Your father tends the sheep,
Your mother shakes the dreamland tree,
And from it falls sweet dreams for thee.

Sleep, baby, sleep,
While angels watch and keep,
Your mother’s heart is a tender place,
Where you will always find embrace.

12. ‘Mother’s Day’ by David Harkins

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she’s gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she’d want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

13. ‘For My Mother’ by May Sarton

Once more a mother’s voice, a mother’s arms,
A mother’s eyes to take away my alarms,
I would go back to childhood’s tranquil years
And let the solace of her voice dry tears.

For she was calm, the harbor where I fled
When life’s tempests raged and filled me with dread.
Now in the silence of her absence, there
Echoes the tenderness of her constant care.

14. ‘Motherhood’ by Alice Walker

Motherhood is a choice you make every day,
To put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own,
To teach the hard lessons,
To do the right thing
Even when you’re not sure what the right thing is…
And to forgive yourself over and over again
For doing everything wrong.

15. ‘The Mother’ by Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

16. ‘Mother’s Song’ by W. H. Auden

You shall love your crooked neighbor
With your crooked heart.
It was not a love to be kind,
But a love to be strong.

A love that bore the weight of the world,
A love that sang through pain and joy,
A love that lived long after life had gone.

17. ‘My Mother’s Garden’ by Unknown

My Mother kept a garden,
A garden of the heart,
She planted all the good things
That gave my life its start.

She turned me to the sunshine
And encouraged me to dream,
Fostering and nurturing
The seeds of self-esteem.

And when the winds and rain came,
She protected me enough,
But not too much because she knew
I’d need to stand up tough.

18. ‘To My Mother’ by Edgar Allan Poe

Because I feel that, in the heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother.”

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you —
You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia’s spirit free.

19. ‘A Prayer for My Mother’ by Czeslaw Milosz

Lord, let her see me as I am,
Without fear or pride.
Let her feel me as I am,
Without pain or need to hide.

For she has known me, as no other,
And she has loved me like no other.
So let her know the love I bear,
A love as pure as the morning air.

20. ‘My Mother’ by Claude McKay

If I have given you all my heart
And you have given me your all,
Why do you leave me in this part
Of life’s uncertain, shivering thrall?

Oh, mother dear, oh, mother mine,
Take back this heart of mine to thine.
In you alone, I find my rest,
My truest love, my mother’s breast.

21. ‘My Mother’s Eyes’ by Unknown

When I was young, her eyes were bright,
They shone with love, a guiding light.
Now they are soft, a little tired,
But still they burn with love inspired.

In those eyes, I’ve found my way,
From my first step to my first day.
Now I see her eyes are old,
But still, they shine, so warm, so bold.

22. ‘Mother’s Love’ by Unknown

A mother’s love is like the sun,
That warms the heart of everyone.
It shines so bright, it gives us light,
A mother’s love is pure and right.

Her gentle hands, her soothing touch,
A love that never asks for much.
Her voice, a melody of grace,
A mother’s love, a warm embrace.

23. ‘Mama’ by Naomi Shihab Nye

Mama,
When you were a girl,
Did you dream of me?
Did you think of a day
When the wind would carry
My voice to your ear?

Mama,
Did you wonder what I would be?
Did you hear my cries
In the whispers of the sea?
Mama, did you know
I would love you endlessly?

24. ‘Mother and Child’ by Eugene Field

Rock-a-bye baby,
Thy cradle is green;
Father’s a nobleman,
Mother’s a queen.

And if you fall down,
I will pick you up,
For a mother’s love
Fills your golden cup.

25. ‘To a Mother’ by William Ross Wallace

The hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
For the tender care of a mother’s hand
Is a force that cannot be hurled.

Her arms, a shield against the storm,
Her heart, a haven, safe and warm.
A mother’s love, a gentle song,
That echoes through the ages long.

26. ‘My Mother’s Smile’ by Unknown

My mother’s smile, so warm and kind,
A gentle touch that calms the mind.
Her laughter fills the room with light,
And makes my darkest days seem bright.

Her eyes, they sparkle when I win,
Her arms, they hold me from within.
No matter where my life may roam,
My mother’s smile will lead me home.

27. ‘For Mama’ by Nikki Giovanni

I love you, Mama, like the wind
That moves the trees and bends the limb.
I love you like the rivers flow,
Forever, endlessly, they go.

I love you, Mama, more each day,
For in your love, I find my way.
You taught me strength, you taught me grace,
You are my heart’s most sacred place.

28. ‘Mother’s Day’ by Emily Dickinson

I cannot live with You —
It would be Life —
And Life is over there —
Behind the Shelf.

The Sexton keeps the Key to —
Putting up
Our Life — His Porcelain —
Like a Cup —

Discarded of the Housewife —
Quaint — or Broke —
A newer Sevres pleases —
Old Ones crack —

29. ‘For My Mother’ by Unknown

Mother, you are the one who cared,
The one who held me when I was scared.
You taught me lessons, wiped my tears,
You were my strength throughout the years.

Your hands were there to guide me through,
Your voice was calm, your heart was true.
You are the star that lights my night,
The one who makes my world so bright.

30. ‘Mama’s Love’ by Maya Angelou

My mama’s love, a sacred song,
A melody that plays so strong.
In every note, a soft embrace,
A love that time cannot erase.

Through storm and sunshine, loss and gain,
Her love is steady, like the rain.
My mama’s love, my saving grace,
A love that time cannot displace.

This Mother’s Day, let these 30 beautiful poems serve as a reminder of the boundless love, care, and sacrifices that mothers give every single day. Whether you share a sentimental verse, a playful rhyme, or a touching tribute, a poem is a perfect way to say, “I love you, Mom.” 🌷💐

Take a moment to celebrate the extraordinary woman in your life by sharing a poem that speaks from the heart. ❤️✨