she sings the lullaby that used to make him sleepy as a baby

"i heard the truck turned too sharply and he was passing too close, it tipped over his car and..."

what else is she supposed to do when the pain is so fresh it still feels like a nightmare

or an alternate universe made of her worst fears

"his neck probably broke, that happens when you don't wear a seat belt"

they look at her like she's going crazy, one child, one accident, too many mistakes

one less plate at the dinner table,

she's still expecting to wake up with a jolt

"my cousin said there was blood dripping from his forehead"

gossip, idle gossip

is that really my boy's legacy?

...she wants to scream out,

but she keeps singing instead...

stories the neighbors' kids tell,

a warning grandparents give,

an example for other kids

he was a person too

not just a story discussed over coffee

he was my whole world

texting his father. he didn't see how close he was to that truck.

and he's gone