Now That I Am Older

Now that I am older I can see
the things she hid from me so carefully—
the worry that wore her face at night,
the sacrifice she made look light and free.

She gave from empty, never showing empty,
she smiled from tired, never showing tired,
she stood in every gap and never mentioned
the standing that the gap required.

Now that I am older I can thank her
with the gratitude that only hindsight gives—
too late for the knowing while it happened,
but not too late for honoring how she lives.
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