the underneath

i read today a book called 'the underneath'. it's a book for young adults, and i picked it up off kyra's shelf. it's like reading a long poem, so lyrically written - i would usually say i devour books, but i think this one devoured me. here's the setup for the passage i'm about to quote. there is a momma cat, who has two kittens, puck and sabine. in a twist of fate, the momma and puck are snatched up by a cruel man, tied into a burlap sack and dropped into the river...

"the calico cat looked hard at her beautiful baby, her boy kitten. and right there, tucked beside him in the dark burlap bag, she loved him as hard as she could, loved him so much that her heart nearly burst. "you are the son i dreamed of," she told him. "i never wanted any other son but you." she licked him on the top of his head, right on the cresent moon. and even though her girl kitten was not with her, she loved her, too, held her against that big old love that comes from all mamas, so that surely sabine knew, she'd know, she'd surely know. and her heart broke for sabine, her girl cat. then she gasped."

sometimes, like watching 'titanic' or news coverage of katrina, i have thought about what i would do in that moment. what would i say. and, pardon me, i'm crying here, but i hope i would do that. i would collect my girls as close and as tight as i can in my arms, and tell them how much i love them... how grateful i am that they are mine... i would tell them that it would be ok, that God was still there, and that he would be there when the darkness came. no mother should ever have to do that, but they do it, in places all over the world. God, be with those mothers today... be merciful to them... be there for them when the darkness comes.