Lift-off

Dawn by Teodoro S Gruhl

Lift-Off


In that heroic moment the young mother watched

The stealing of her composure eaten piece by piece by the pounding of her heart as she watched

in silent doorway-discipline

her children, saying goodbye

Her children, straining the limits of their soft limbs, snuggling their length into each side of her mother lying still upon snowy linens

Her breath rattle-ricocheting off the walls

Into the lilies and lilacs

wafting from tall vase on the table

Her small children gazing upon her mother’s face, with liquid wide expectant eyes as though they would truly see their grandmother lift and fly upwards at any moment

Her small children, lying with soft flung limbs, relaxed in a patience worthy of prophets for this moment they had that dawn proclaimed

And as the end approached on slippered feet and gently walked into the present,

her children gasped and each clutched tightly a papyrus hand, in theirs,

cheeks against cheek,

as though they could see

Something.

Something.

In that heroic moment she stayed and watched

from the doorway, a would-be future phantom

flooded with the fall of tears sublime

as rattled rough breath gave way to silence

Sweet, soft, complete and utterly peace-filled

and her children rose and excited ran to hug her about her waist – 

“Did you see it?” they grinned  “It happened! Grandma took off-just like she said”

“Did you see it?!” they chimed with wide sun sparkling eyes.

In the early morning of her newly minted orphanhood. 

And though she had seen nothing that final tableau, 

The young mother as all heroic mothers, for all time, in moments such as this– 

held her children close and through the blurred world of oceanic tears

Smiled.