When Moms Slip Away Poem by Timmy Tubbs

I’m going to get bread she said
The summer day beared witness to this
She gently shut the door and who knew
That was the last time those fluffy blue slippers
Slipped across our hardwood floor
Days went bye as time captured silent stares
As Dad's water turned to beer
Consuming him more and more

I held my younger sis
Offering a shoulder to cry
Turns out, she knew about all of this
Poor girl, trapping it all inside
All of our tiny hearts dropped and witnessed
A grown man never able to sit
Crying with hands holding his head
And days and days walked by, nothing was said

Late night, we all heard his silent sobs
He must have been clinching the sheets were she used to lay
And clouds of words that came to the surface
Whispers of what he wanted to say

So no more sounds of Tetris or Dr. Mario
Consuming her time secretly plotting out her line
And the sound of the dice skipping accross the table faded
Replaced with an empty room and tiny dents on the wood
She played a mean game of yahtzee
And no more sitting in her curled legs
Taking silent naps on our cigarette burned couch
Like a baby kangaroo seeking solace in his mother's pouch

Never got to wave or bid a last farewell
But time turned its pages taking the meat right from their bones
Her hair cut and wardrobe outfitted with new cotton
His beard gone listening to new songs
What she always wanted to say was hard to tell
Just when I though our family was carved of stone
She walked away leaving us in a dust of her wonderful smell

New days turned to years and rebuilt happiness
And happiness slayed the fears and dried our tears
And their smiles soon shed, once again
And Dad's resting spot turned from the couch back to the bed
After the powerful liquid serenaded his veins and washed his stains
Our love wrapped its strings back around each one of us
It was stronger than ever before
It brought us all closer and explained the book of trust
It explained what is most important: Every single one of us