I cry as the mother’s last request sinks upon us

She told us not to tell her 6 year-old child
Her daughter was just outside the door
Waiting to talk to her mother some more
And she would get to
But we would not let her watch
As her mother takes her last breath.

I cry as the mother’s monitor slows down
The young girl in her lap, grinning slightly
The woman smiles back, hugging her gently
Caressing her hair until she falls asleep sweetly
And the monitors begin to get louder
All of the rest of the world fades
But we won’t let her watch
As her mother takes her last breath

I cry as the mother’s monitors make a low, beeping sound
The daughter was picked up out of the mother’s lap
She was carried out of the room, screaming and crying
Trying to make these mean people let her down
I try not to cry but I am drowned by the sound
The lights are blinding
And the warm tears are making them blur
But we don’t let her watch
As her mother takes her last breath

I cry as the mother’s head droops slightly to the side
The daughter escapes the nurse’s hands, fleeing to her mother’s bed
Shaking the woman’s hand, she yells, “Mommy, wake up.”
Pleading, tears running down her face, “Mommy, get up.”
But the way her mother’s ivory skin gets lighter, she knows
The little girl knows that her mother has left this Earth
But she won’t accept it
She’s not dead
And I don’t want to believe it either
Because that little girl was me
They wouldn’t let me watch
As my mother took her last breath