Rest in Peace, Mom

Gail Lumpkin, 1944-2019 (pictured age 17)

YOUR AUDACITY

Mother, when I think of you,

I see you grinning wide.

Yes, I know you may be gone,

but for me, you’re very much alive.

You see,

I often failed to understand your many unlived lives.

You pushed me hard, you wanted more,

and many nights I cried.

You always ever only sought

to make me grow and not to hide,

so every dream I ever dreamt,

would be mine if I strived.

The best of you––

that truest true

the core of your audacity––

it lives on.

It lives on in my brother and me.

11.19.21 – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED