Love and pain

I never knew that love would bring
such pain and tearing hurt,
that holding others in my heart
would lay me waste and burned.
I never knew that caring deep
for those I brought to birth,
would mean a life surrendered
to all that they brought forth.
There is no other bond so great,
which holds both mind and soul,
in chains of constant caring;
as endless years unfold.
It is as if their DNA is written
in my blood, and swirls in pure
remembering, no matter
where they are.
There is no place beyond the truth,
and we remain entwined,
in complex, cast of being;
a mother's life defined.