oh mama don’t die [poem]

oh mama don’t die
don’t die mama
don’t die

on each side
of the big window
two hands reach out
palms touching glass

oh mama don’t die
don’t die mama
don’t die

not a child
once a child
now a man
old himself
but his mother
older

oh mama don’t die
don’t die mama
don’t die

he kneels on concrete
outside the nursing home
kind staff
wheeled his mother
up to the window

oh mama don’t die
don’t die mama
don’t die

he begs her to stay
and she would
for him
she says “I love you”
but he can’t see her lips
behind her mask
or hear her voice
through the window

oh mama don’t die
don’t die mama
don’t die

© Buzz Dixon