Pedestal

You say our children put me on a pedestal

that you can never reach me

that you can work forever

and they will never set you high

If I am on a pedestal, it is a pedestal I built 

with my blood and my tears 

my sacrifice and my love

It is a pedestal to raise my children up; it was never meant for me

 I built it piece by piece to give them everything

Everything I had and everything I never had

The dreams I wanted for myself and never reached

the dreams I hoped they would create themselves

The guilt of being a single parent, the fear of never being enough

The agony of trying to be two parents instead of one

  

But mostly it was built of my love

A love unyielding and unbending

A love forged before they took their first breath

A love worth giving everything that I am to grow

I gave them all of me, every particle, every fiber

I showed up every time and I stayed by their side

And for that, they held on to me as I lifted them up

onto a pedestal made of my heart

em

3/2/22