Answer:
Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me has not been smooth. It has been filled with hurdles and challenges and times when there was nothing to soothe the pains.
Explanation:
The mother in the poem tells her son that life has been really challenging for her. A crystal stair represents a smooth walk through life. She did not have it that way, but rather, life was filled with tacks, and splinters, and boards torn up. These serve to symbolize the challenges and hurdles that life posed to her.
A carpet serves to cushion the effects of pain, but she has had to go without that sometimes.
