NA PO WRI MO, DAY 9: THE LONG DRIVE HOME

The Long Drive Home

She stacks her luggage by the door,
a staging area.  Soon it will be crammed into
the trunk, the back seat, every available cranny
as she prepares to embark on the long drive home.

A thousand miles separates us,
save for those brief - all too brief - visits
when her laughter lifts us up
out of our everyday cares and routines.

Then comes the tearful farewell,
the ’til-we-meet-again, the embraces, the
wave of the hand as the car pulls away,
the birth pang ever renewed thirty years on.

Godspeed, child.

And don’t forget to wear your galoshes.