Mary Ethridge-Majayda: In His Mother's Tears

In His Mother's Tears

I saw him today
he was reflected in
his mothers tears
He was every mother's son
resister of the occupation
defender of the innocent
struck down from afar
by the sudden flight of
death on winged cylinder
a missile from a mile away
a flash and a whistle
and he was gone
a car turned to molten twisted tortured metal
a body suddenly dismembered
drained of blood and life
he lay there so very still
wrapped in the swaddling clothes
of the grave
his unshaved cheek
and gently closed eyes
and once tied chin
reflected in the sorrow
the loss and the pain
of his heartbroken mother
reflected and multiplied
in the tears on her cheek
in tomorrow he is but
a faded picture
a memory
a source of pain
in time he is
past joy
remembered in sunshine
and mourned in the
still of the darkest night
and still too he is
reflected in his mother tears
that fall unbidden
when memory hears
the call of his voice
the sound of his step
the look of his unshaved cheek
the memory of his laughter
comes as a familiar friend
and steels into a reflection
in the tear that escapes
and slides away from the eye
and rolls down the cheek
and for a moment in forever
he is reflected in
his mothers tears

ENDS