mother's day

this time last year
i thought i had a week or so
you thought differently and stayed another month
but you came when you came
and the sky was brighter.
last mother's day i cradled you entirely
and you were a stranger to me
i loved you entirely, and yet i didn't know what love was.
this year, i can only cradle you in part,
in the crook of my weighed-down arms
and the part of my heart that will keep cradling,
even when you can rest your chin on my head.