WRITTEN IN STONE

We walked together, you and I,

close by were your mother

and your mother-in-law.

Well, I walked and carried you

here in my heart. You are never far

from the first beat you felt

of a heart so faint and labored,

now older and drawn to this place

where your lives met their terminus.

Your mortal life had come to rest,

in the shade of gigantic poplar trees.

And I hit my knees in prayer for your soul;

the eternal life that began here as well.

Here with your parents who guided you

through the earliest recollections of truth

and faith. Here with your husband; the father

who had joined you after a long exile. I smile.

A length of paces removed from the parents

that had given him their names and their heritage.

Names emblazoned in marble; a monument to

your mortality, and in reality just markers

from where your new journey began.

Written in stone: Irene Wojtanik,

Bertha Kura, Lottie Wojtanik.

Together again for eternity 

from this day, Mothers loved 

and blessed at the behest of this heart

that sprang from all three. From me

to you, Happy Mother's Day.

Walt