(for Reatha)
I drown out my own trembling voice
My child listens
she hears my cries
in the night. In the day.
And when the minutes slowly roll
by, the view turns a different shade
I can't see.
I can't feel.
Any warmth seems to have left me.
My heart has gone out.
Like the fire in the living room.
I poke around in the grey dead embers.
Where my vision once held me.
Comfort is now something of the past.
I close the curtains.
And think of my mother. And the blanket I hold dear.
How do we do it?
How do we cope with times like these?
Darkness creaks. My child is silent.
She brings me a drawing.
I look at a big yellow sun.
A cow. and a dog.
The pig roams the field happily.
There is a horizon. And us.
I put that drawing in my heart.
I make a new fire for us all.
Don't preach to me today.
Just keep me safe. Keep me warm.
