Dream
By Marilyn J. Dykstra
 

I didn’t go
I didn’t come
To see my mom although
I’d been asked
Many times before.
 
She always revived
To live another sunrise
Another birthday.
Why wouldn’t this week be the same?
No, no, I didn’t go.
 
An attendant said
That a week before
Mom shouted through her door
“Tommy! Gary!
Open up! Let me in!”
 
But her brother Tommy
Buried in Florence with his friend
Wouldn’t open heaven
She said, “It wasn’t my time.
They wouldn’t let me in.”
 
This week they opened the door
So we all came together
Husband, daughters, grandchildren
To carry her coffin
And lay her in her grave.
 
Today her photo appears
To celebrate Mother’s Day
And bring back tears.
In the mist of COVID-19
Thank God she’s no longer here!


May 21, 2020