Mom

 Last Kiss

I don't remember

The first time she kissed me,

Holding me helpless

Against the world.

I don't recall 

My first word, step or fall.

But she was there, always was, 

Urging, coaxing; wanting selflessly.

I don't remember 

The first time I kissed her,

With awkward eagerness,

As children sometimes do.

I don't recall

The moment I became me,

And she let me go, reluctantly,

As mother's always do.

But I will remember the kiss

I placed upon her tired brow;

As I had to let her go,

Like sons never want to do.

Wanda Coleman

b. Seminole, OK.  Oct 23, 1926

d. Clarksville, TN. Apr. 26, 2019