With the sun beaming on my back, I ran through the trees,
Silencing the wind with an apathetic smile pressed to my lips.
She shook her head as she looked to me: green in the knees,
And she serenely placed one comforting hand on her hip.
"Wash yourself off and put on a change of clothes,"
That was the signal, as I knew it, that my fun was done.
I picked through my veggies, ignoring the potatoes,
Turned a blind eye to the meat, gagged on the bun.
"No dessert until you are done your dinner," she sighed,
And wearily, I obeyed, finished what was left on my plate,
Holding it to the soapy water, my eyes shined with pride.
Bath time was at seven thirty, bed time was at eight,
But no victorious night ever came without a fight:
"Check for the monsters", "Can you please get me water?"
Endless questions to stall further into the night.
She was just a mother doing her best to take care of her daughter.
The brakes on the bus squealed as it pulled up beside me,
Door opening to a half-hearted smile on a friendly face;
And she held my hand as she let her youngest go free.
The hallways shrank and my heart beat at a rapid pace,
As tears swelled in my eyes... I called for her but nobody came.
We were taught to sit, to speak, to draw and to spell,
All through the creative tactics of mini childhood games.
Gravely, we were taught to come out of our shell,
And to meet the strangers we would soon know as friends.
The ABC's were never that easy, the number system was too vast,
But now and again I'll look back wishing it will never end:
The golden heydays that come and go so fast.
She sat back and watched, as I stumbled through heartache,
Cried as she watched her solemn shadow be replaced,
And cursed through the nights our giggles kept her awake.
Twenty years of marriage crumbled, time was just a waste;
And there was no room for anyone else in her heart of stone,
But slowly, I picked apart the wall that held the soot,
Doused the flames of her feverish heart and stood by her alone,
A task that's not as easily done as it is simply put.
She stood tall, without an ounce of shame to her name,
And watched her little girl grow into a woman,
But to remind her, is an old faded picture within a cracked frame:
A Saint holding onto a child with blond hair and a freckled chin.
The gown was worn with anxiety, the cap with a smile,
And a trembling hand held onto mine as a tear hit the floor,
"Be careful when you step out this door, the world is versatile,"
She sighed as she loosened her grip. "Ma, I couldn't ask for more,
I've got a mother who loves me, friends who care,
And as hard as it will be to believe this: I'm ready."
She let her youngest spread her wings that day, whispered a prayer,
And as she was loading up the trunk of her old car, she stood steady;
Trying to fight back her tears as I hugged her and said:
"Mama, I'm a big girl now."
