Choosing Love, by Lois Perch Villemaire

Roots, by Frida Kahlo (Mexico) 1943

Choosing Love

A single woman with an abundance
to share chose to adopt 
a newborn from a foreign land,

A seedling wrapped in pink baby clothes
traveled to the United States --
her arrival created a family, 

a baby girl transplanted into adoring soil
began a life where she would 
never know of daily challenges in  

the location of her original roots,
never know a life with disadvantages,
food insecurity or violence.

This mother learned from each cry, 
facial expression, and first steps while 
teaching kindness, connection, and tradition.

The child unfolded — beautiful, smart, healthy,
a mane of dark hair parted in the center,
a smile on her face, a loyal friend.

I have witnessed the warmth in her eyes when 
she meets her mother’s gaze, overwhelming 
my heart to see such devotion.

Lois Perch Villemaire

Lois Perch Villemaire resides in Annapolis, MD. Her stories, memoir flash, and poetry have been published in such places as One Art: A Journal of Poetry, The Ekphrastic Review, The RavensPerch, Trouvaille Review, FewerThan500, The Drabble, Pen In Hand, and Flora Fiction.  Her poems have been included in anthologies including those published by Truth Serum Press, Quintessence - Coming of Age by Soul Poet Society, American Writers Review 2021, and Love & the Pandemic by Moonstone Arts Center. She was a finalist in the 2021 Prime Number Magazine Award for Poetry.