Step (mom)

You can’t imagine

how it feels, this 

mothering, 

A beautiful, 

tumultuous 

love.

The title 

descending into 

low expectations.

I chose to rise...

You won’t believe 

that I fell...

at first sight,

enamored with those 

Cherub cheeks

emitting pure joy.

I cradled you,

instantly felt 

the happiness

and (tender) weight

of parenthood. 

The years 

weren’t easy (fair).

Ours, a bond

of circumstance, 

I understood.

Patiently waited

for moments

you allowedyourself to feel.

Each held close 

to the heart.

Now on the cusp

of adulthood,

your “great severing”  

has begun, expected 

yet no less terrifying. 

I sit hoping this is not Our story’s end. Hoping you will always 

return (Home).

 ——-
Reflections on the complicated mothering of a stepchild, and the uncertainty of what comes next as he graduates high school and goes off into the big, scary world. 
*photo credit: artist Kate Ahn, found at www.kateahn.com