Poetry Challenge / Day 30: prompt farewell

The First Farewell

All weekend long you held me close, loved
me tight, and rocked me to sleep every night
after reading me just one more favorite bedtime

story. We played jacks and chased balls, watched
that funny man splashing around in the rain on the t.v.
while you sang along, and we laughed like Sunday would

never arrive. But, Sunday came, as it always does,
and you had to leave once more. All the joy, all
the laughter that we had shared fled, vanquished

by the sorrow and the fear that maybe, this time,
you would forget to come back, and I would be all
alone. As your old blue VW rumbled down the drive,

then turned into the street, I followed you flailing
my arms and waving my hands while tears bathed
my face. My arms and legs pumped harder than

they ever had, but three was too young to race a car.
As the vehicle carrying you away from me reached
the corner, nearly out of sight, I yelled as loud as I could,

“I love you, Mommy. Don’t forget to come back next week.”