Heartbreak Harmony

Mother only sang

when her heart was breaking.

Like the day father decided

life was too hard.

I remember lying on flannel

listening to her haunting melody

until her voice gave out.

Like the day she woke

to discover her child

was blue with sleep.

I never heard such

heart wrenching tunes. 

Like the day the sparks

embraced the wood

until ash rained from the sky.

No choir could outdo her.

Like the day I told her

I wasn’t here to stay.

Her cracked lips parted,

but I walked out the door,

with both hands

covering my ears.

It’s midnight,

I’m years from home,

and I can still hear

her singing.