First Place- Pieta (A Mothers' Lamentation) by Mark Barrett

First Place

Pieta (A Mothers' Lamentation)

by Mark Barrett

You cannot hold onto him forever,

even arms of stone grow weary.

The wind and rain will always sever

every thing you once held so dearly.

Do not take for granted

what you have left,

as the crumbling granite

of your left breast

dissolves into road side stones,

your son memento mori

his body will soon be all alone

and naked in kingly glory.

Do not cry your tears

of watery blood,

all those years of hopes and fears

are spittle in the mud.

Fear not, for thou art blessed

above all, having borne the cost;

well and truly thou hast earned thy rest,

all that's not given is surely lost.