Umbilicus

My mother's worry follows me wherever I go.
The long way
The painful way
That is the only way to learn.

A child needs her mother's worry.
Without it, she would not go on.
It's what propels
It's what sustains flight.

For if my mother did not worry for me
Where would I be?
Always looking backwards,
Hands wringing

Asking why, oh, why
Have I no worry to set me free?
No infinite thread of preoccupation
Tethering me.

When walking alone
Daughter in the care of some other
My thoughts land on this child with every footfall
Her face floating in front of mine.

If I let my thoughts stray from her
The lit tunnel grows dim
She turns back
I am gone

My mother lights my way
With her worry
And the roundness of love
Circles back to me

Gives me a worry of my own
I walk with my hand cupped around its flame
It is a joy, to worry
It is a joy that fills.