Since this is a poem, there could be multiple meanings. There is the meaning that I can understand, the meaning for you or any other reader, and the meaning for the poet who wrote the poem. When I read the line with the term "little mother", it seemed to me that the poet was referring to her as "dear" or "sweet", maybe from the point of view now as a grown-up. Thinking literally, she could very well be little or smaller than the grown man who is writing the poem. Your next question has to do with the line "Did you kill, carve, gesture to god or gods?" I think this line shows that the mother is not completely sweet and kind - that she has an aggressive and dark side as well. As for a literal meaning...well, it's poetry. What does it mean to carve a god? I don't really know. But it sounds aggressive and brutal to me. Or maybe it's like a sacrifice? What do YOU think it means? ;)