Milestones.
Invites in the mail.
Celebrate!
"Save the date" -
Casey and Jake
cordially invite you to celebrate
their big day;
next will come
more rich cardstock,
pristine and pretty,
"Welcome to the world" our new baby girl,
and after that,
a few years that fly like the wink of an eye,
a boy to complete the unit:
Mom and Dad, son and daughter.
Another invite in the mail!
White and bright,
glittering with good news.
Another mother's paid her dues:
Her baby grew as babies do,
As all babies should.
Another wedding! Life is good.
She paid her dues.
I did too!
While others flourish, one will inexplicably flower and fade.
We don't get to ask why.
We cooked and cleaned, we fed and bathed,
we loved and nurtured and played.
If the train went off the track,
Would you want your money back?
I want my son back.
Do they see no invites come from me?
Every day is a good day
So long as we are here,
breathing the same air,
sipping each afternoon tea
as it were our last.
The last sip of tea
The last breath
The last word, a whisper,
"Mom"
"Celebration of Life," they call it now,
but I don't know how
to rejoice that he is gone,
that this boy of mine
never married,
never made a granny of me,
never lived to weather the storms
that give us our gray hair and wise airs.
Another invite in the mail.
Another baby is all grown up now.
My only job, to share the joy.
Sending love, and my regrets,
I'm just not ready yet....
NOTE: I was trying to write a poem for one of my favorite poets, but I will never capture and distill words like she does. Sorry for that, but sorry, sorry, sorry for the recent loss I'm not able to express.
This is for 
