Obelisk moon,
suspended in the sky
like a seven-months
pregnant woman
gliding by,
four times I sailed
proud and serene,
like you,
small voyagers
aswim in a sea of dreams
all safe within.
I tacked and drifted
set the mainsail fast
those sunny days
we thought would
for forever last
How I dreamed
such simple dreams
of happiness:
the future such
a whole and shining thing
life's songs
all waiting there
for them to sing
joyously
like laughing lovers
in the sun
and be happier than I
when I was young
Now one son laughs
and lives his life
and one son weeps
in a maze from which
he cannot find his way
One daughter struggles
but goes on,
one daughter sweeps
from depth to wave-peak
in a single day
four small precarious passengers
hanging on
without the chance to choose
to a mother
they are so afraid
to lose
And I?
My heart still sails
through seas sublime
my compass pointed firmly
towards a hope
that I would keep
but all the time
a nightwatchman
lives on board
who never sleeps
and I wait
for that call
that knock in the night
to sound again
that is my world
come crashing down
in pain
My heart lives now
four other hearts inside,
their journeys become
my journey
and it is a bumpy ride
32 mother's days
sailing by so fast
on this sea of hope
where nothing ever lasts
days of unbearable beauty
unbearable sorrow
the best gift:
my children,
all alive
tomorrow.
