My mother used to hold me
And I turned away
Because I could not embrace her with my arms
Any closer than her heart held me within.
She sat in silence
And listened to me sing.
They were songs
Of innocence,
Love,
Madness,
And recovery,
Auditory glimpses of my soul
For the world to hear,
Yet she was the only one
To devour my melodies
With total belief and understanding.
When my mother awoke
I would wipe her tears I thought were from sadness,
And perhaps I was not wrong,
For she, too, was
Given breath,
Denied change,
Hit for strength,
And robbed of love time and time again.
She would always cry
When I was too sick t