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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Forever Mama<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By DeAnna Quietwater Noriega<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>From the moment she hears that first cry,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Her life is changed forever.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will walk the floor for hours,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Cradling a fevered child.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Once she has become someone's mother,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When the umbillical's been cut, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A piece of her heart starts beating,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in the control of another.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will hold a fussy baby while,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Her dinner grows cold on her plate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Though she is too tired to eat,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will prepare his birthday cake.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will toss restlessly the first night,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Her child sleeps away from her care.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Wait up until she hears his key,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In the lock when her teen comes home.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will call out as he races by,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It's cold --Don't forget your sweater!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She'll worry he's not taking care<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When he is grown and far away.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Be she in her teens or near ninety,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will never be just herself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She will sacrifice for her child, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Will forever be a mother.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>DeAnna Quietwater Noriega<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>Cell: 573-544-3511<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>Email: <a href="mailto:dqnoriega@gmail.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>dqnoriega@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>Author of <i>Fifty Years of Walking with Friends<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>https://www.dldbooks.com/dqnoriega/</span></i><span style='mso-ligatures:none'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>