Finally Understanding My Mother

1967

Like another lifetime

Yet the same lives,

My dad, your husband,

Is off fighting the war

In Vietnam.

Your thoughts are with him,

Wondering, is he safe?

Is he hungry?

Will he make it home?

Not wanting to think about it,

Not wanting to watch the news,

But worrying nonetheless.

My little sister wonders too

Though it looks like she’s playing

Making lines in the dirt

Like a meditation.

I stand quietly.

Thinking. Pondering.

Wondering how to help.

Maybe just standing by your side.

Is enough.

 

Now, I understand

How strong you really were.

Finally Understanding My Mother

— Read on joannaoftheforest.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/finally-understanding-my-mother/

My friend Ann died recently. On Mother’s Day, thoughts of her and other mothers who have left us.