The Meaning of Motherhood

I'm reading a book right now called The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd. The first chapter talks a lot about the significance of motherhood and the importance of the role we play, especially in the lives of our young children. To help enforce the point, she copied this poem, author unknown:

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still did last
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more at will.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon.
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.