Editor’s note: Farah Lespes’s poem was an honorable mention in The Kiosk’s Fall 2023 Fiction Story Contest.

In the depths of sorrow’s embrace,
A young girl’s heart moves with grace,
For a mother lost, gone without a trace,
A void that time cannot erase.

As the years go by, she stands alone,
A woman now, with children of her own,
But in every step, she feels the unknown,
Longing for a mother’s love, now overgrown.

In marriage’s embrace, she finds delight,
Yet shadows of loss cast a somber light,
For her mother’s absence, a haunting sight,
As she walks down the aisle, on that special night.

Children’s laughter fills her days,
But a mother’s touch, forever stays,
A whisper in her heart, a yearning that sways,
Through life’s winding maze, in mysterious ways.

Graduation’s triumph, a bittersweet song,
As she walks the stage, a sense of wrong,
For her mother’s voice, to cheer her along,
But she knows deep down, she had taken too long.

Buying a home, a symbol of success,
Yet her mother’s absence, an ache to confess,
The regret of time lost, a heavy duress,
As she longs for her mother’s gentle caress.

Through the fear of the unknown, she’s grown,
Reflecting on moments she should have known,
But in her heart, love forever shone,
A connection eternal, never to disown.

She carries the weight of what could have been,
A stubborn child, who now has seen,
The value of time, in spaces between,
And the fragile beauty of what life can mean.

In the tapestry of moments, she finds her way,
Honoring her mother, day by day,
Though fear of the unknown may still sway,
Her love persists, an unyielding ray.