my mother
                                                                          Jean Addington Adams

My mother was famous for her quotes (and this
one is no exception)

As, per usual, she was right.

After she was in hospice five days, after constant morphine
drips (that would kill anyone!) her feet began to turn blue,
the lips I kissed non-stop turned an obscene gray.  We prayed
the Lord’s prayer.  I wanted to crawl inside her but a nurse
stopped me.

We watched, we waited, we cried.

When she left, died, passed, went away –

an eagle tore loose within me –
soared through the black night –
covered me in light.

It was a snap of time out of time.

It is so hard to give birth.