How to Let Go

A son, a son

whose life has just begun -

His mother, whose love

knows no bounds -

must now let go; must let him go.

She cannot hold on

to his innocent hand

while he goes into school -

Lest she prove fatal to him in

so many, many ways.

Pastel colorings shape his eyes

like the sky at dawn -

Clumsy pictures of her with crayons

imagining an infinity of brightness

on her face reflecting

in that deepest plane of hurt.

She drives home

and sits alone,

looking at her hands -

While he struggles to decide

what to eat for lunch

in a cafeteria full of laughing children.