Taps

Taps plays, blurry in the background,

While my mother cries heavy bullets.

The rain is the only comforting sound

That comes before the real storm hits.

It’s twisted and ironic, I know

How are hardship and loss irreplaceable?

But they are the forces of change that show

How courage and strength is unbreakable.

The saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”

Is cliché and its meaning, devalued.

Yet, I’ve found it helps the hurt subside longer,

And for that, my heart seeps with gratitude.