A Trail of Ink for My Mom
My pen is a dancer.
It whirls and flutters across the paper
leaving behind
this holy shrine of
the words I cannot say
that unwittingly consume me from night to day,
the obscure thoughts I cannot express;
I hope these words will impress
In my mind they are innocuous,
but on this paper, they are potent, ingenious;
Every letter, word, character is me
Scratched down to share a story.
I am a daughter
To my mom – life fought her
and she won.
Raised me on her own
She was not lonely, only alone.
Could not speak the language, could not drive a car,
but paid for my school, so I could be a star.
I shot up in the sky and soared among the best
When I was scared or doubting, she pointed to my chest;
She always told me to be me
She held onto my body, but let my heart be free.
She told my heart to pave a path – unique, different, rare
She told me if I stumbled, she would always be right there,
And I thought that I was leading the way,
But it was always you and there is something I must say:
Mom, thank you for those little toys,
And dressing me like a baby boy,
Thank you for sacrificing valuable rest,
So you could be me with me instead of studying for your test.
Thank you for letting me be myself
Thank you for raising me by yourself,
Thank you for putting your life into me,
I know it wasn’t easy staying up until 3
You are my life and I am yours –
Our love is intoxicating, everlasting – a lion’s roar.
These words now scribbled down
In my thoughts and emotions, I may drown.
With this delicate trail of ink
I wish for all and everybody to think.
But alas I must cap my pen,
Wait until tomorrow- this journey begins again.