Oh, Who Knows?

Oh, who knows that fragile body?

The lips that pucker, the toothless smile,

The weight of tiny body, hair soft and downy,

Or forehead where no worries strut their guile.

No one knows like the mother's eyes,

The mother's lips, fingers, eyes, and ears,

And heart... where hope and prayer therein lies.

Evident when out of love, stream grateful tears;

When the child is not in arms, the imagined weight is felt

When round cheeks aren't at the tip of a kiss

The kiss is untangibly dealt;

Just as prayers wrap a blanket round when a child is missed.

Oh, who knows the fragile body

But the whole being of the mother?

She who has bent the body and soul to simply study

The sleeping child, tucked gently under the covers.

emilie g. 11.09