Poems About Gwendolyn Brooks by Top Critiquers

After Gwendolyn Brooks  
      
There it was—      
after twelve hours of ocean      
and incandescent clouds:      
sewn patchwork of color      
beyond the portal      
of a plane's window      
     
Momentarily gone      
—American melancholy      
hovering so far from home      
     
I was six—      
a whimper amid adult dialogue;      
my teacup tongue, rattling  
against saucer lips—      
unheard      
     
Gaiety—      
my father, statuesque       ...

As apparent
As a parent
I cannot imagine the pain
Or the agony and despair a woman feels
I cannot think of the torment
A mother experiences
When her child is suddenly taken away

This is for those who have loved
From conception to birth
From early years into adolescence
Shaping and molding a young mind
A mother makes so many sacrifices
Raising her children
All the while society can be cruel

The world may portray an adult
As something else
But through the eyes of a mother -
A mother...