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| 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.
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