Look at me, mom
Fearless finds a tear in my eye
It will be shed tonight before I sleep

Look at me, mom
Look at me

It was thirteen years ago today
That you last gazed on your youngest son

Not long after you exhaled one final time  
Warm rain fell outside with sorrow and refrain

After you were gone
I stood on the porch of my youth and looked up

Clearly clouds could not make up their mind

Some sought sun and a whisper of laughter
While others embraced slumber

Of what had expired
And what we had just lost  

For me
You were the one who carried me to till I breathed

You helped raise me
Till I found my feet and opened my gait  

I’m complicated more now than I was then

The pain I feel inside is no more dull
Than that on my skin

Left behind from a string of tattoos
That adorns my body

Thigh to shoulder
Leg to the middle of my back

Each needlepoint tells a tale
This verse tells a story

And I speak symbolically
In most every other word


Words behind this: laughter, slumber, fearless and string
Written and posted: May 25, 2010

Rest in Peace, Mom