The sound of a school bus

pulling away from the curb

a school morning

still dark

kids trudge up to the bus steps

sleepy-eyed and half awake

as mothers wait silently in cars

with headlight moons

shining off of the black pavement

the mothers send along their love

stuffed in back packs and lunch kits

as sons and daughters board the bus

the children do not know

the cares and concerns that go with them

they do not think about what mothers think

all mothers grieve the act of letting go

the parting of their flesh and blood

separation brings anxiety

what are the rules now

that schools have become battlegrounds

their children's safety used to be assumed

now school is a risk

a dangling question mark

about the competence of strangers.