A Mother's Anatomy
by Jennifer McBride
2/3/94
reprinted with permission
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My ears hear you crying
in an empty room.
My arms expect to
be holding you soon.
My eyes behold the
most beautiful sight
when I close them and dream
of you in the night.
My lips feel your kisses
though you're not here.
My breast knows your hunger
though you're not near.
My heart always aches -
there's a hole in it now
you've died, I'm alive -
surviving, somehow.
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