I’m not sure what it means to be a mother.
The process couldn’t possibly be the act of childbirth,
because so many children are born in the hearts
of those who cannot conceive.
I’m not sure what it means to be a mother.
The moment a woman holds her baby in her arms
cannot define her as such
because so many mothers leave.
Mine did.
The moment I became a mother
was weeks after I had given birth.
In a quiet moment rocking an infant
as she slept in my arms unawares.
The moment I became a mother
was the moment I realized
I could never possibly live one day
without this little person.
I wouldn’t dare.
Because the moment I became a mother
was the day I acknowledge a shift within myself.
My world would never be the same without you
because my heart lived within someone else.