See You Later (Graduate Dedication)
They say that opposites attract,
Like the times I would sit on her lap,
Rest my head against her chest
And listen to the beat of her heart,
Knowing that this, this is what love sounds like.
And, she'd wrap her arms around me like a fence,
Knowing that when I opened the gate and looked back,
The lines beneath her eyes would form rivers,
But she'd wave to me despite her pain.
Because that's, that's what mothers do.
They prepare you for life the way a mother bird
Prepares her baby to leave the nest,
That's why it's called Empty Nest Syndrome.
But I don't want to be free.
Lock all the gates and throw away the key!
I don't want to leave the nest
Among the rest who left,
Like my brothers and sisters before me.
I want my mother to hold my hand
The way she did when I was three.
She'd tug me back and look both ways
Before helping me across the street,
And that road would unfold
Like paper beneath my feet.
But that paper was really concrete,
And I would fall,
And I would bleed.
So I would run to my mother
To kiss the boo-boo's on my knees,
Put a band-aid on my heart,
And teach me how to breathe
Because despite contrary belief,
Breathing does not come with ease,
Especially when you're drowning,
Lungs pumping and screaming out ̶
If this world is an ocean,
Then leave me on the beach.
Sand beneath my skin
Hair blowing in the wind,
And on the opposite side
Are my mother's eyes,
Glimmering with hope,
While her hands clasp tight.
The salt beneath her wounds
Sing the ocean blues
Because she taught me how to live
How to cry
How to be free
And how to fly.
Yet I still, have a fear, of dying.
So when the morning breaks
And I open the gate,
I will not say goodbye
I WILL NOT SAY GOODBYE
I
Will simply say
See you later.