"Strength of a mother" - A Poem

Will they uncuff
Her hands
Let her hold
Her baby?
Will she be free
In time
To claim
Her child?
Can the strength
Of a mother
The stuff
Of legends
Conquer the shame
That glues
Those haunted eyes
To the floor...?

I was at the hospital today (I'm okay) and as I sat outside I saw a prison transport vehicle drop off a pregnant woman and the two people guarding her. I guess they were officers but their uniforms were unfamiliar. The pregnant woman's hands were cuffed and she looked really ashamed. I have no idea what circumstances led her to that point but she seemed embarrassed. I can't pretend to know where she falls on the spectrum of innocence and guilt. Some of the crimes that could land a person in that predicament aren't harmful at all. But some are. Still, in that moment I felt bad for her. She looked like she wanted to disappear.

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