When I was a young girl, my mother wrote a beautiful poem. It was a bold, stirring tribute to my coming of age and her words honored our bond even as she fastened wings that would let me fly. Rediscovering the poem many months ago, I slipped it into my blog folder. I was hoping to share it with you someday. It says so much about my mom. About love.
Mom lost her cherished partner of sixteen years to cancer last week. I have only just returned from the trip that saw his passing—days of hand-holding, tears, whispered prayers. The pain of my mother’s loss still raw, I opened the blog folder today and stumbled upon this … her poem. The serendipity could not be overlooked. It’s time.
Letting Go by Barbara Bessesen
My heart – your heart
My life – yours
Woven mysteriously
Who be warp or woof
Intrinsically connected
From beginnings long ago
Now leaning towards
Pathways walked
Alone or arm in arm
Young, strong knight
Beckons toward the moon
I yield
Heartstrings tight
Stars to grasp
Reach high
This beauty emerging
From a child’s cacoon –
Or crumbling walls that kept
the world at bay
Tender flesh of my own
Stretching
Discovering
Becoming
Soon to be
That golden butterfly
Sending kisses to my soul.