Sacrifices
This child we cuddled nights,
our stomachs grumbling so we kept
the roof over her curly-blond head,
the perky toddler whose wobbled first steps
marked her own form of independence,
pushing her stroller more times
than she rode,
we watched her win track meets,
built baking soda volcanoes together,
hid our tears from each other
at the movies where everyone cries.
When did her pearly-toothed smile,
its straightness bought on installment,
cause such tears in us, this reminder
of her golden promise, in days
before she took the path so travelled,
the maze of choices based on feels good,
that led her to this cold place,
this mound of earth that marks
what meant so much to us
that we still go to bed hungry?
Ramona Levacy
April 25, 2013
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