I should have watched that mother;
to see her chest gently move up and down
as she breathed with her child in her arms.
And I should have seen the look in her eyes
when she held someone so dear to her.
I should have lied out in the sun to burn;
to feel the heat and the exhaustion
all across my body.
And I should have slept there until night fell,
so I would know what its like to miss something
so persistent.