American Mother
I am an American Mother
I’ve heard first cries from my children
As they came into this world cold
Their skin turning pink
As I held them close to my chest
A precious siren wailing
In a room filled with joy
She is an American Mother
She didn’t hear the last cries from her children,
As they left this cold world
The warmth draining from their bodies
Once whole, now ripped apart,
A haunting siren wailing
In a room filled with fear
We are American mothers
I am an American mother
I will send my children to school
Wishing them a great day
As they board the bus and wave good-bye
Joy in my heart and dread in my soul
Questioning for a split second
If they will return
She is an American mother,
She will send her child to school
Wishing them a great day
As they board the bus and wave good-bye
Questioning for a split second
If they will return
Unaware of what the day will bring
We are American mothers
I am an American mother
I breathe a deep breath gratitude from afar
In the midst of my sister’s worst day
And watch in horror
As the body counts are tallied
And the story unfolds
An abundance of pathetic thoughts and prayers
She is an American mother
She waits outside of the school
With her arms aching for her child
She doesn’t see them and she won’t
Her hope is siphoned from her body
Her child is a tally mark
A siren wailing into the sky
We are American mothers
I am an American mother
My life will resume in mere seconds
Gleeful laughs and sibling arguments
Filling up the spaces of air in my home
I will tuck them in and kiss their heads
Wishing them sweet dreams and good sleep
And count my lucky stars they’re mine
She is an American mother
Her life has ended in mere seconds
Guttural sobs fill the spaces of air in her home
She will lay in her child’s bed
Their scent lingering from the night before
When she tucked them in and kissed their heads
Wishing them sweet dreams and good sleep
We are American mothers
Two halves of the same whole
She and I
Our hearts beating in rhythm
To the patter of our children’s feet
Our very breath living outside our bodies
We keep our eyes open for each other
So that they may stay safe and stay ours
We are American mothers
Sisters in a sacred bond
When one bleeds, the other hurts
Our hearts bound together
Intertwined by the fabric of motherhood
Battle torn and tired from sleepless nights
Wearing the same stripes on our arms
Comrades in the raging war
We are American mothers
Sisters strung together by a thread
Stitched together as the stars and the stripes
We are united in a divided world
We celebrate with each other
We grieve with each other
For we are one in the same
We are American mothers
