Flying Solo

She struggles to provide the essentials Everyday Every waking moment is like a cast iron weight around her neck But this was her flower And if her only option had been wringing a damp rag This little flower would surely be given the water to grow Surviving was as common as breathing air It’s just what they did It’s how they lived And though at times the integrity of her methods is at best questionable Is there anyone bold enough to inquire? In this life there are few luxuries No leisurely getaways to extravagant places Every penny is undoubtedly accounted for Twelve fold Yet and still She always manages to make a way Always A determined pupil of life and its harsh realities There was a time she was expecting And the one man whom her heart loved Loved less with each passing day The day she delivered, eerily similar to the day of conception Both instances begot lessons in loneliness But they also cultivated strength and an unrelenting determination Despite circumstance For her little bundle there was no land she wouldn’t traverse No river she wouldn’t cross No matter the cost The skin over her knees was rough and ashen Markings that would serve as daily reminders Punctuating the many soiled hardwood floors scrubbed For what was most certainly an absurd wage Whatever could be spared brought the occasional transfer Just to allow her blistered feet a reprieve from shuffling one job to the next But they would never go without some semblance of a meal The one thing that would forever be a guarantee That and her incessant love The steady dull ache that careened through her muscles Like white water rapids pounding against the rocks in a swiftly moving river These were her consequences for giving life A life that requires every bit of her So painfully exhausted But so adamantly willing Any test of her fortitude had been passed long ago There is simply nothing more admirable And not a picture more beautiful Then a mother obsessed with nurturing and caring All for what is likely the only thing that continues to breathe life into her Left alone long ago, and given the responsibility of sole caregiver Abandoned but far from broken To many, this may be nothing more than a familiar story But to see the fight in one who embarks on this solo flight Is to see something nothing short of extraordinary Copyright©2013 by Daryl R. Gaines. All rights reserved