The temperamental softer side

touches and plays with loss

yesterday was easy to say goodbye.

Today against 4 equal promises

voices tempt to tell me otherwise,

the whole hole you left inside

it was no surprise my optimism was fooled.

All emotions have been buried and covered up

still, the soil is swept clean

exposing these sensitive words

a son losing his mother to cancer.

I can already tell just how much quieter

that big kitchen of hers will sound

in the deafening silence

everyone is standing around.

The void is still as big and wide

as the day she left

ordinary or otherwise

November is here again

to celebrate her life.

Happy Birthday Mom.