[39] Mothers Worry. That’s What They Do. They Worry…, Tyrel Kessinger

that there will always be worry.
In the world. In her children’s hearts.
Worry raining every instant. Before you read this
you weren’t thinking about your mother
being worried about you but she is.
Right this very second. And this one and
each one that follows. Even if she is sleeping.
When she is dreaming she dreams of worry.
Even if you aren’t close to her.
Even if her brain has been eaten by time.
Even if she is dead then you should know
she’d be worried about you at at this moment
if she were still here.
And if there’s an afterlife, well,
she’s worried about you there.
She worries that you’re not getting enough food
or that you’re getting too much.
That all the pollution in the air will give you cancer.
That every breath you take will be your last.
You should know that when you came into the world
your mother wore worry like a second shadow.
You should know that when you were a child
your mother would make sure you were still breathing
by putting her hand on your chest
and let it be lifted by the soft rise and fall
of your little pink body.