Resemblance Poem by Cherie Mort

I can't stop
I keep thinking of you in your dark red shirt
A deep crimson spreads across it
Like a rose in full bloom
Bleeding from your heart
I cradle you in my arms and sing a lullaby
Like when you were small
Tears falling from my eyes like stray water droplets from the sink's faucet

I feel myself melting away as I hold you
You bleed into me like water into ink
And I try so hard to keep us together, to give you life, but I can't

Above us, an ink and paper moon glows like a lantern
A cord attaches it to the earth, like a fetus to the womb
I'm not about to cut it
But I will tie it to you
I bring down the moon and wrap you in it
Like an infant in a blanket
Then I send you on your way
Waving as you grow smaller and smaller
And bigger and bigger

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You yawn and stretch your small arms
How tiny and perfect you are
I nuzzle your cheek and kiss your head
Holding you in my arms as I sing you a lullaby

I remember a time when you looked like the moon
And you wore a crimson shirt
But as a cascade of tears fell on you
The crimson washed away to reveal you, perfect and small
Yawning in my arms as if you were never more content