1 poem
by issa lewis
BEAR THE WEIGHT
Invisible anchors sink a boy of eight
with gingerbread eyes and gap-toothed smile.
As his mother, I will bear the weight.
Fear and rage drag him down, unable to navigate
the waves that take him, while
invisible anchors sink a boy of eight.
Medical professionals debate,
add notes and theories to the growing file.
As his mother, I will bear the weight
of his head on my shoulder, past-bedtime late,
Oreo crumbs cornering his smile.
Invisible anchors sink a boy of eight
no matter how hard I pull, try to separate
him from his own mind, a crucial mile.
As his mother, I will bear the weight
with my tired body, bent and inadequate,
with my dented heart at his feet in a pile.
Though invisible anchors sink a boy of eight,
as his mother, I will bear the weight.
Issa Lewis
Issa M. Lewis is the author of Infinite Collisions (Finishing Line Press, 2017). A runner-up in the 2017 Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize and 2013 winner of the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, her poems have appeared in journals such as Jabberwock, Pearl, SWWIM, and Naugatuck River Review. She teaches composition and professional writing at Davenport University and lives in west Michigan with her husband and two sons.