Ambrosia for Her Soul
She breathes in the fantasies
Living through adventures born
From her daughter’s world
Holding tight desperately seeking
A life she would never know
She waits by the phone
Silence filling the air
Having waited too long
She turns away
Then all at once
The ring
Tentatively answering
Her heart races hearing
That oh so familiar voice
The salve for her soul
“Hello Mom…how are you?”
Barely able to contain herself
“Good”
Chattering on
A good five minutes or so
The daughter’s mundane tasks
Feed her full of newly born memories
Inserting herself as daughter
She returns to the fantasies
Reviewing, remembering
Her world still intact
Her only child feeding her life
Caught in a circle of questions
Once, twice, three times answered
A merry-go-round of words
Fills the void
The silent unknowns
“And how are those doggies?”
The always answer of “They are great”
Followed by a laundry list of wagging tails
And guard dog barking
Seems to serve her thirst for conversation
She laughs then
“Oh how I wish I could be there”
Silence
A wellspring of sorrow harkens
The daily moment when heartbreak beckons
“Oh how I wish I could be there”
But knowing the truth
This cannot be
The subject changes to weather
And the circle of questions
Begins again
Delighting
Filling her days
Ambrosia for her soul