A Mother's Night Music
by Leslie P. Garcia
The children snore.
Lying awake at night,
Listening
To the indrawn breaths and sighs,
Memory tugs.
I remember
Other nights, clutching the baby
To my heart,
Hoping
The love went through and pierced
The lurking demons
Ravaging her breath.
Then, too, I laid awake long nights,
Afraid
The morning sun
Would warm
An empty crib.
But God and the years
Abolished
That moment’s terror;
The motor purr and coughs of sleep
Are reassuring hymns of night.
And though their lives
Are not finished,
Not mine—
Just rough works
Awaiting
Master strokes—
The symphony of snores
And smiles evoked by unknown dream
Are what there is of me
That’s good through time.
Leslie Garcia
