Momma tell me something, tell me why I couldn't see,
That you were a woman to you, before you were a mother to me,
Have I been that selfish, thinking that your reason to be,
That the point of your existence, was just so you could give birth to me?

Momma help me out, I need you to explain, I knew that you were hurting but I never wanted to see, thought you deserved your pain,
Why am I still so angry, I've been mad at you, blamed you for so long,
Did you let me be right knowing that I was wrong?

Now I've been the parent, I've had children of my own,
You must have seen me as a child acting grown,
If I had asked you then, would you have tried to make me understand,
Could you have convinced me that I was still a boy, and not yet a man?
Worries and fears I have had for my kids, Is that what you felt for me?
I catch myself saying to them the exact same things I hated when you said them to me,
But my kids love me Momma so how could this be?

I was just so angry with you as a child, everything that went wrong, you were to blame,
Although if I was right about you raising me wrong, why have I raised my kids just the same?

Not once did it occur to me that you were different before you gave birth to me, allowed to make mistakes, without four mouths to feed,
Are you saying you didn't want to put your life on hold, drop everything and attend to me?
I didn't know you weren't born with a mother's wisdom, or patience, that there was no how-to book,
I just thought you were born holding a switch, and that y'all better-stop-playing look.

Maybe we don't appreciate our Mother's until we have kids of our own,
Maybe by not taking the time to look, some things never get shown,
Being grown now means that when I'm having one of those days,
You're not around to tell me it's ok, or kiss my boo boo away,
I have to be my own family's doctor, referee, cook, and bank,
I have been able to do it so far, and it's you I have to thank.

Thank you God for not letting Mother's hold grudges, what they go through the world could never repay,
Momma, as long as breath is in you, I'll try to make everyday, Mother's Day,
So I'm sending all the love I have towards an overdue I.O.U.,
Settling up with the Father above, for sending me a Woman, that turned into a Mother like you.