by Rae Coop

I am the full moon
rich with daughters.
Time spent
             reading bedtime stories
                                       and drying tears over
                                       spilled milk and bruised knees.
The quiver and the bow
holding my arrows close to my chest,
afraid to send them sailing through
a forest full of doubt.

I am the ambassador of Womanhood.
Everything they aspire to be,
                                                       everything they dread becoming.
The small whisper in the back of their minds.
The roar on school nights.
I know all,
             See all. That is the Power
                          of Mom.
Yet… Doubt lingers.

“That’s not appropriate!”
                                                       I grin.
“You may not have candy at 10 in the morning!”
                                                       I hide my potato chips.
“Because I said so,” the catch-all response
When reason,
                          logic,
                                       even clean clothing
is like asking for sanity in a circus.

“Do as I say, not as I do” is dead.
             be Brave                        be Fair
             be Kind                          be Honest
We all wish to be different,
                          bold
                                       smart
Everything we find in ourselves.
Every thing we wish we didn’t.
We startle at acts of selflessness,
and accept self-sacrifice.

Unparalleled potential paired with
stunning brilliance, only able to thrive in loving spaces
                          and direct sunlight.
Children who will grow into
             Mothers.
                          Fathers.
                                       Mentors.
                                                    Lovers.
Who will change the world,
             even if they can’t find their shoes.

 

Rae Coop is a native Pacific Northwestern. She is a new writer and mother of two. She discovered her passion for writing in the seventh grade when her teacher was stunned by her poem about the moon and the sun being lovers. Since then, she has dedicated much of her time to writing prose, poetry, and short stories. This is her first publication.