In memory of Annie Ruth Allred.  A new resident of Heaven.

Your eyes open at the sound of the world awakening,
You wonder, even aloud, “How can the world go on?
Does everyone not understand my mother is gone?
Stop! Don’t you know I feel now, so alone?”

The load you lift today a physical mass,
Mama isn’t suffering but a part of you has left.
You feel yesterday’s tears dry upon your face,
Today’s tears track and etch their own place,
Brief though it be, you mourn her place in the race.

But the world woke up this morning,
The sunlight still through the windows pouring,
And Lord willing you and the world will continue to wake,
Waters will flow and ebb through life’s lakes,
This of your mother’s legacy you must take.

Be ready, now when you’re young,
Prepare your heart, urge your family along,
One day your journey too will end,
Your child’s time of deep grief will then begin,
With God as our Lord, they’ll know our souls reside with Him.

                       d.f.a.v. 10/13/16

—Donna