Her arms

A cradle

Now a tomb

The air hangs heavy

A weighted room

Breath once soft

Now silent stone

She carries the ache

She bares it alone

Time slows

The earth forgets to spin

Grief carves canyons

Deep within

Yet her spine

Does not break

Her gaze does not fall

A sentinel standing

Despite it all

The lullaby lingers

A ghost of sound

Roots take hold

Where love was found

Cracked but steady

Her heart persists

In the shadow

Of absence

She still exists

What will anchor

Her fragile might?

The mother wonders

In the fading light.