A Lesson That Has Come To Pass Poem by Leo Briones

A lesson that has come to pass
to my mother Delfina Irene Briones

It is true that the naked eye can never know
if it is chick or yolk behind the egg shell—

still, I ponder if the sky was full of sun or gloom
the day you realized I was growing inside of you—

as a child I remember swallows spinning
tiny gourds of mud and sticks under the eves—

then one day your little boy, who never
wanted anything more than the delight of being loved,

noticed that life was as quick and cruel as a late Spring storm
that flung the nests and speckled eggs to the ground.

So you came to me, held my hand,
whispered with a sacred breath

it is gravity that spins the world
and inertia that drives nothing to exploding stars

but only love shall calm the shaking heart.