Though I am now so aged

that I strain to lace a shoe,

each day my dear old mother

still tells me what to do:

“Don’t go in with muddy feet!”

“Wash your hands before you eat.”

I lost her in my younger years

and cannot hear her voice,

but habits she ingrained in me

often regulate my choice.

“Quit whining and get it done.”

“Get outside and have some fun.”

“Don’t say things that aren’t true.”

“Do you hear what I’m telling you?”

Yes, Mom, in some peculiar way,

I do.

— John Clifford lives in Lawrence.