[To Misa: Yes, you've already seen this. ;) -CW]

=== Upon A Mother's Passing ===	                     
							  
They are the link that binds us all;			  
Each girl, each man, each plant, each beast;		  
All living beings on or in this earth are born
Of one they call their mother.

Our new-made eyes first see
The inside of their wombs;
And when we exit from th'organic bed
Their words for years bring comfort
To our tired souls;
Their acts of kindness and instruction
Shape our future selves, and mold
Our personalities.

Far more than this,
They form an anchor 
For our ship of life;
A place where, in our wanderings
Through storms, and waves far taller than
Ourselves
We may always of a peaceful haven rest assured.
They are a quiet in the gale;
The hurricane's eye that will never leave;
Whether the squall remains or no
Is immaterial.

What then, when at last,
As must we all, at one time or another
Bear a painful witness to;
What happens when
This rope; this safety-cord is severed
And we are left alone, to drift upon our own resources
Uncounseled
Uncomforted
Unknown.
What are we then to do?
For then we sail upon uncharted seas;
Our navigator lost;
All maps irrevocably destroyed,
And those few landmarks which
We thought we knew
Distorted past all cognizance.

And why?  Because
The one true constant of our lives,
Our Creatress
Who in her likeness made us
Now is herself obliviated;
At least that part of her
With which from infancy
We interacted;
And if our matrix disappears,
What does that say about
Our pitiable selves?
May we withstand
The forces that
Our Source succumbed to?

We may not, nor any one;
We all must die,
And leave our world.

But leave to what?
To Somewhere, for
Throughout the years
The one discovery of science
Has been said to be
That nothing can be truly
Made or Lost;
But only changed
Into another form.
And though a mother's body
May decay,
And menial cells from dust
Return to their primordial dirt,
I do not see
How such an immaterial thing
As soul could suffer the same fate,
How spiritual substance could "return"
To Elements; So far! from whence it formed...
Her shadow is transmogrified;
Of this I am convinced.
It too returns to whence it came,
For so must do all things that breathe,
And their component parts.
But one will find not Down its place of birth,
That font from once it flowed, and where
It now eternally makes home;
Instead, I will look high above myself;
'Tis there that she has flown,
To join her flock:  The force which binds the worlds,
And all the stars,
And holds them in a unity.
She and the living Universe are one;
More now than e'er before
She lives in me, and I in her.
For now I hold a part of her
Within my mind, within my self,
While she still holds me in her Love
Which will respect no boundaries of time, nor space
And though I would be rid this bitter sweet,
Reminder of the joys gone by
Will never come again,
I must recall the fact that woe's not all love brings.

It also brings a Hope,
A bright and brilliant star,
Whose rays, though faint, will penetrate
The blackest night
And thus betoken that
No matter where
No matter what
Afflicts us,
THERE IS LIFE.
There is a force so powerful, so deep,
That no mere working of biology
Can ever shrink its potency;
Release from mortal casing
Will only fortify, and strengthen it.

Therefore, I shall allow to be my guide
She that once took me by the hand,
And let her push and pull my soul
As once she did my infant paw;
I will embrace this challenge she has set:
In leaving us in body, she en-
Trusts me to myself.

A Captain I shall be,
And pilot too,
And navigate the vessel of my life.
No other crew is standing by;
This journey I must make myself,
Yet not forget my guiding light;
Celestial orb that burns and serves
As signpost to my final port.

It will be there, I know, and
When it seems
I'm stuck in 
Endless
Swirling
Sucking
Changing
Eddies of Confusion, 
I shall glance Above
And be assured that all is well.

All is One,
And I a part of it;
And none of it can ever be annulled:
All that once was,
Still is, though changed,
And all that is
Shall be 'til days are done.

That is; Her caring and
Her tenderness
Cannot just fade, or drift
Into oblivion.
They, and her soul, 
Her essence,
Will remain
And help and comfort
Her beloved ones
Through all the days of our
Existence.

-Ono Belladonna
 Early 2026

Coming soon in the Ranma 2096 series:
[Later tonight, for the R2096 ML ;)]

'THE R-FILES, VOLUME I: REIRAKU'

 	   -Childra Jansen and Christopher Willmore-
 'Adventuress' and Theoretical Physics Major Extraordinaire...  
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