All Good Intentions

my mother believed

innocent lives are saved through good works and arthritic fingers 

blankets and buntings for newborns 

knitted on behalf of worrisome young mothers who struggle against poverty and minimal support 

she prayed for those mothers 

the ones who kept their babies,

rejected the odds 

disregarded the manner by which conception occurred.

despite a mistake 

turned flesh and blood

prayers offered in hope

until a Molotov cocktail is tossed or a bullet, fired. 

anonymous goodwill blankets are nice when offered free of judgment