Mother on A Cliff Edge

Looking out across blackness,

save the sky filled

with millions of blinking eyes,

she searches out the land below,

centers her vision upon her village,

so quiet, so peaceful.

Mother kneels on slated rock,

hands clasped to her breasts,

lifting her head upward

and pleads in tortured prayer

for the return of her husband,

her son;

when they leave at first light for battle.

Prayer and belief holds her together,

but the return of warriors

without those she cares most,

may not be enough to keep her strength,

her dignity,

from becoming dust.

She prays for a good day.

As light breaks open across the land,

from deep within her village,

she hears the chant filling her soul,

knowing her prayer has been answered.

As tears slide across deeply bronzed skin,

her eyes come alive,

and a smile escapes through her tears.