Peaceful Emma

One day I came

to her room in need

I kneeled beside her,

my head in her lap

And did plead

for some guidance

I said “Please show me the light.”

She said “I'll try, sweetie pie, but it's

your war to fight.

Baby girl,

when I was younger

I was just like you

When I was eighteen

I posed in the nude

And dated tall boys

with blue eyes and tattoos

but grew up and married a gentleman.

I was wild and careless

I held my head high.

I was stubborn and naive

The world made me cry.

Don't you know that our choices

are worth our mistakes

And the heart it mends better

the harder it breaks.”

She coughed as she told me

about the old wars,

the husband she lost

and the sons that she bore,

She had me laughing again by

the time she was done

We said goodbye and

I left by the light of

the last wisps of sun.

Peaceful Emma,

Don't leave me down

here on my own

I need your guidance

your wisdom

your hand in my own.

You've taught me more than

any one else that I know.

Now you're gone

I must carry you with me

wherever I go.