Before and After

The ministers and the biologists both say
A mother’s instinct to protect her child
Is one of the strongest that exists.

We loss moms don’t need them to tell us that.

If you have ever woken up
In the middle of a cold night
And fled to put a blanket on your baby’s grave,
You know.

You know the primal urge to love and comfort
Does not disappear
With your baby’s breath.

And you know the way that others calculate time
Is a luxury.

For those of us that are growing old
Imagining what our babies would be like today
There are no minutes or hours or months or years anymore

There is only

Before and After.