Begin, End

Begin.

She is a mother.

Enter the child, a boy

he sits, and plays and dreams

with jacks, and string and things

his mother the sun, so bright

she nurtures, and laughs

She is a good mother,

Because

he is her world

he grows, and learns

he loves, and is loved by her.

They are each other's bright hope

he knows nothing else, but

her embrace round him

comforting, strong

Again

and again

all of the troubles

they come in waves

she is his ship, and they

navigate the seas with

grace, and tenacity

captain, and mate

capsize.

I'll be right

back, and of course

he believes her, why not?

because she had always returned

there was no reason to think

or believe that this

would be any

different

circumstances knock

on the door in uniform as he

was playing with jacks and string

and things, the grandparents they

opened the door for the men,

showed them a badge and

said in solemn tone,

sorry

there has been

an accident.

sorry

there has been

an accident

sorry

there has been

an accident

sorry.

Those words

repeated for days

and weeks, and years

the boy without

his world.

end.

end.

and.

And yet,

the sun kept

creeping up past

the horizon and onward.

Another day, and,

another, just

like the

last

time, the boy

no longer played

with jacks and strings

and things, no, he slept, and

waited for the world to

come to the end that

was already his

reality

meant nothing

anymore. How could

everyone pretend like nothing

had ever happened? Like the sun kept

shining? Like the world was

the same place? Like it

was all just some

play

with jacks

and strings and things

the boy didn't. Not anymore,

not since his sun was taken, he would

sleep until the world came to

the end that he knew

was already

his

heart was

numb. A still organ

resting in the chest of a man

whose world was stolen, before it

began. Then he thought, not

of himself, but of her, and

her warm, and strong

embrace

the hardship

the cold, and the hurt

the heartache and the hollow

and grow. Slowly in the memory

of one he loved he would vow

to never forget her smile,

her kind eyes, or her

laugh

at the jokes,

sing in the shower

day by day he must move

onward, and forever, and when

he must think of her he

would smile, and

laugh and

play

with jacks,

and strings and things.

One day far into the future

when he was old, and gray with

a boy and girl of his own, he

their world, would leave

and it would all

begin.