my son calls me Madre
not because I speak Spanish
or he speaks Spanish
but to distinguish himself from his sisters
and make our relationship unique
with a word
a name:
Madre

to name is sacred
holy
gives substance and connection
to the one who names
the one who first breathes life
into another, through naming
creating a tether, a ground tie
longer than an umbilical cord
with roots and wings

I never named another
who did not first find my body to be home
but I named a son
who is bold enough
to name me
to name us
not because he’s a Momma’s boy
but because
he knows Madre when he sees her
a forever home
with roots and wings