silent tears again
this time my middle child
(won’t accept status)

to watch them slide down
i want to take my words back
then she wouldn’t cry

she is not like them
that’s why she reads it alone
and cries without words

later, smile on,
look, Mama, i hung my card
her tears forgotten

and so they will hang
the weight of one decade now
how hard the truth stings

how hard to admit
to my ten-year-old child
how surprised i was

i know why she cries
with that outward sister grin
an old soul, she knows

she’ll treasure those words
more than her Monster High doll
or anything else

birthday reminder
of surprising miracles
that shape who we are