Namesake

                                             Namesake

                                    I give you, my child, the name

                                    Of my Mother

                                    Who tonight lies

                                    Between pressed white sheets

                                    She, too, in a hospital

                                    Miles and miles away

                                    Where she, like you, fights

                                    For time

                                    For days ahead

                                    And, as yet unknown to her

                                    For time to spend with you

                                    My impatient child

                                    Too quick to find the world

                                    And now struggling to stay in it

                                    Fight, my child

                                    With the strength of your namesake

                                    Fight for yourself

                                    Fight for her

                                    My joy

                                                                        Michael F. Mathews

                                                                        Jan. 31, 1989

                                                                        ~01.03 A.M.

                                                                        Home © Tampa, FL