by Pam Verner

A child.
Hot.
Sweating.
Trembling.
Screaming.
A nightmare.
Calling mom.
In the blackness of the room,
A small sliver of light,
Growing larger to show a shadow,
A soft shadow,
A mother.
A mother’s touch.
A mother’s hug.
A mother’s kiss.
Peace.
Warmth and calm, given by the mother.
Hush.
The child sleeps.
The mother silently tiptoes from the room.
The child sees.
Years
And years later.
A mother.
Cold.
Trembling.
Dying.
Calling child.

Child Appears,
Touching mom.
A child’s touch.
A child’s hug.
A child’s kiss.
Peace.
Warmth and calm, given by the child.
Hush.
The mother dies, silently tiptoeing from the room.
The child sees.

(I wrote this poem in undergraduate school at George Williams College a year after my mother died.)