Before in the backstand of our existence, and even after—you did so much. My brother and sister tell me all the time that they miss you and sometimes it is enough to make me stop missing you. Your stories have been filled in with all I can remember—I am there, with you. And father.
And whenever you come to me, we take off down the same backroads with you in the driver’s seat, and it feels right, this tightening of life. You tighten my life.
Imagine another life in which we are together.
let us go mother
let us keep going.
From mother by m.s.RedCherries (Penguin Books, 2024). Copyright © 2024 by m.s.RedCherries. Reprinted with the permission of the poet and publisher.