I am only a child
Yeshey Pelzom
USA
O mother, did you feel that aching nudge?
It was I calling you –
“Will I ever be with you?”
O mother, did you feel that sudden emptiness?
I tried waiting… hoping…
But I am only a child!
O mother, did I betray you?
I have offered my cold fingers
Onto the warmth of a new hand,
She promises I will not fall again.
I know she is not you –
But I am only a child!
O mother, did I betray you?
I have found a new lap,
I now sleep the sleep
That for twenty years I had awaited.
I know she is not you –
But I am only a child!
O mother, did I betray you?
My children will not know
That rhododendrons adorned your hair,
That waterfalls sang to you,
I will try telling them –
But I am only a child!
O mother, did I betray you?
When the evening breeze touches my hair,
When the morning rays warm my face,
I feel your presence here,
And I try to tell myself,
“Mother is a mother, no matter which” –
But I am only a child!