Grief...

A four-year-old child,
unable to understand
the complex motives
that drive a woman
consumed by her demons,
only knowing she left him behind,
taking his siblings
along with her,
leaving him with a father
broken by her desertion,
a man unprepared to be
both father and mother.
A man whose bitter pain
leads to savage words
that make the pain even worse,
making her choice to flee
a judgment of the worthiness
of the child left behind.
The child grew into a man,
his heart stunted
by despite,
by unworth,
by the self-fulfilling prophecy
that all will
abandon him.
The mother seeks to reclaim,
to heal,
to rebuild bridges
burned so long ago,
but he can't trust her...
And, then, in a moment,
she's gone,
and there will never
be a chance to reestablish
what shouldn't have been lost
in the first place,
but might have been recovered
if he tried.