A Trip to the Orthodontist

While waiting

At my orthodontists’ office,

A little girl’s mama

taps lavender crocs

Against porcelain

Linoleum,

While she,

Holds her crying

daughter’s hand,

And I, can’t help but marvel,

At the magic of

A mother’s patience,

How she,

can doctor her attitude

Into a healthy

Environment,

Even in the midst

Of the chaos,

That is a 6 year old,

In this crowded office

She stays cool, calm, collected.

Let’s the magic roll

Off the tip of her tongue

Reminds her child

To use her words,

And to my amazement,

She does?

Y’all, this magcian

Abracadabras Tantrums,

Into conversation

Daughter says

“Mommy, I’m scared

Of the orcadonis”

Mama smiles,

With all the patience

Of a woman,

Who spends her days

In repetition,

Spends her days

sowing Confidence

Out of fears,

that plague

the parts of childhood

We take for granted,

I watch her,

Pull a lesson

In bravery,

Out of an anxious moment

says,

“I know baby girl,

But fear

is just an opportunity

For growth”

And Just like that,

This maternal magician

makes a child’s worries disappear,

I swear all mothers,

got endless handkerchiefs,

For everyone’s tears

But their own,

Daughter says,

“But mommy,

What if it hurts?”

And I watch the magician

Perform her next trick.

Transform the lie,

Crawling its way

Up her throat,

Into mantra,

Says “it might,

But you bigger than all that,

And big girls don’t cry”

Leaves out the part

About them breaking,

Leaves out the part,

About mommy fears,

How they would suffocate the room

If she ever let them out,

And I can’t help but marvel

At a mothers ability

To make bullet proof bluffs

Out of every concern

Fear whispers

into her child’s ear.

Daughter says

“Ok, imma be a big girl,

Just like you”

Meaning,

Imma fake it,

Like you mama,

Imma be mother

Like you mama,

Stressed beauty n all,

Imma be fractured

Pillar in deplatated

Fortress mama,

Imma be stubborn like you

Learn to make magic

Like you,

Mom smiles,

Tucks truth

Behind necessity,

Like the brave magician she’s

Had to become,

She kisses her daughter

on her forehead,

Says “that’s my girl,

Now Sit tight,

It’ll be over

Before you know it”

And I can’t help

but marvel

At a mother’s ability

To manifest

Safety,

Into anxious mind,

I can’t help but marvel,

At the magic

Of a mother.

I have never felt

More vulnerable,