If I could take away those
Two deep lines between
Your brows I would

You lie there
In your pink uniform
Dreaming harried dreams

Playing out all the drama
You’ve lived on

In vivid technicolor

I sit here
Unwilling to wake you
From your restful stupor

How much rest have you really
Had all these years?

When will you sleep
Without those

Creases between
Your brows?

I’ve tried for years
Since I was a child to
Take away

All your pain

The burden of being
A mother

The burden of being unloved
Rejected
Betrayed
Disrespected
Hated
Criticized

Judged

And I failed

Those loads were never mine
To carry
And now

I see you lying here

Counting the minutes
And hours

Wondering how much more
Time I have with you

Before the cancer kills you
Or the heart attack
Gets to you first,
Like you have always
Wanted

Wondering if you’re
O.K

In that dream world
You’ve conjured up

In the world I have
No control of

I sit beside you
On the hospital bedside

Unable to do anything

But to be with you

And I decide that
Watching you
While you lay there

Unknowing; unaware

Is enough for me

And you