Notes About The Poem

A mother's love doesn't stop when her children mature and leave home to start their own lives. She is left with the emptiness and deep quiet in the absence of busyness. How does a woman who has dedicated herself completely to her child rearing years regroup, rebound and start a new phase of life after her grown children have not only left the nest, but state, or in my case, the country?  The pain feels like being naked and vulnerable. It takes time, but a woman can find herself and her identity again.

Naked to the Bone

I stand beneath the evening sky,
Naked to the bone.
Everything that once I loved has now
Been taken from me; feels like forever gone.

No more soft hugs and tender kisses
Intended just for me alone.
Gone are the innocent laughing eyes whose
Life within so brightly shone.

Each child has gone their separate ways
To seek their paths alone.
I am left beneath the stars,
Naked to the bone.

Just how do I now find my way
When there’s nothing left for me at home;
No fire, no song, no gentle touch,
Just naked to the bone.

Chula Fleming © 2/9/1989
Copyright © | Year Posted 2024

Poem

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