mother

She carried a secret so tightly
that it slowly choked the life out of
her, breath by breath, which was
ironic, because she thought
the only way to stay alive was
to keep everything hidden away,
inside, deep, deep inside.
It was difficult watching her die
for all those years, decades, really, though sometimes
we weren’t so keenly aware of it, maybe because
we didn’t want to be.
Besides, it wasn’t our job as children
to understand everything, or, before even that,
to unravel what bound up her soul.
She had no last words, none that anyone
could understand. She simply passed from
finally forgetting to release.
At least that’s what we hope.