“Grandmother’s Strength”

by Shelly Moore Caron

••

I awoke this morn

Craving my grandmother’s embrace.

What would it be like

To have her hands on my face?

•

I imagine it feels like

A warm bath on a cold day –

Worries simply melt,

Then dissolve away.

•

Fear subsides,

With nowhere to hide.

Head pressed to a chest

Whose heart beats with mine.

•

I imagine her scent

Would flood me with peace.

Serenity flows

As she merely holds me.

•

If she were still here,

Would she hold me dear?

I only had five short years

Of her wiping my tears.

•

Would she love me so?

I’d give anything to know –

Would she have loved me

As she watched me grow?

•

Would she accept who I am,

Or turn me away?

Maybe it’s better

She was taken that day.

•

I couldn’t bear another

Keeping me at arm’s length…

But oh, what I wouldn’t give

To feel my grandmother’s strength.

•••