This poem has touched the hearts of millions of mothers all over the world.
Nicki Marie Carr’s poem ‘Don’t Let Me Cry Mama’ addresses mothers from a baby’s perspective. The baby in the poem begs its mother to pick it up and hold it as it says that the outside world is unfamiliar and scary. Carr urges mothers not to listen to the people who claim that they should let their babies cry (or ‘self-soothe’). Taking this further, the poem asks that they hold their babies, kiss them, and comfort them while they still can. After all, it warns, their babies will soon grow up to become adults who no longer need to be held and helped. ‘Don’t Let Me Cry Mama’ acts as a reminder that time flies and that we should not let people’s opinions dictate how we raise our children.
Nicki Marie Carr’s poem has been published on That Everyday Mama‘s Facebook page:
Don’t let me cry mama.Don’t listen to those comments mama. You’re not spoiling me. Your millions of kisses don’t hurt me mama. You picking me up and holding me close to your chest doesn’t hurt me.Don’t let me cry mama. I trust you, I know your voice, I know your smell, I find so much comfort in your touch since I came out of your belly mama.It was so warm and safe in there.Things are so overwhelming out here mama. I don’t understand this new world yet, it’s big, it’s new, it’s scary mama. I need you. You’re my safe space.I won’t always need you to pick me up mama, one day I’ll be big and I won’t be so scared. One day I won’t be so little, and I won’t need you to rock me to sleep, kiss my forehead, and hold me.It won’t be like this for long. But right now mama, I need you.
