Sometimes, I find myself gazing out the tiny broken window,
Wondering what life must be like on the outside,
Dreaming of a playground filled with laughing, bubbly children
Racing each other from swing-set to monkey-bars.
At the other side of the picnic area a mother soothes her child.
He groans in pain from a skinned knee.
I observe another parent reprimanding little Timmy
For hitting Suzie on the head.
Older kids of fourteen and fifteen are also running about
Laughing and playing with their younger brothers and sisters.
Every mom sits back and breathes a sigh of relief
As if the weight of the world has lifted from their shoulders.
Rocking in my creaky, old rocking chair, I breathe the same
Simultaneous sigh knowing my dreams will till be there tomorrow.

(Written when pondering what it must be like for my grandmother and other elderly folks when they stare out their windows and dream of life beyond their rocking chairs.)

The Absence of You

There is a hole in my being marked only by the absence of you.
You are always in my heart and mind, though you have eluded my body.
The very hope of your existence fills me with warmth and joy.
I have wished for you on falling stars and heads-up pennies.
Instead, I will pray to feel the thump of your little feet
Against my skin - a gentle butterfly kiss of motion...
And hold your tiny hands in mine.
You slip into my dreams, day and night.
I am half a woman without you.


(This was written during a time I was struggling with infertility and was fearful of never being a mom.)