I do not own Spoon River Anthology or Harry Potter
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MARLENE MCKINNON
(May 1950-July 1977)
Around me lay my children.
Their graves are as fresh as mine.
A mother should never live to see her children die.
Though I mother, I was also a hero;
I strove for good in the world.
I longed to fight unchecked for my beliefs,
And strike evil dead with no regrets.
Often motherhood brings hindrance
To the ideals of youthful minds-
For me it was not the case.
I fought in the valiant Order,
Even as my husband reared my kin.
I did not fear for their security;
It was only me in the fight.
I did not think that my enemy
Would consider pursuing my family,
But he knew a mother's weakness,
And my family fell with me.
We all were honored as heros.
Yet though that was what I longed for,
I cannot say they felt the same.
For who knows of a baby girl,
Or boy scarce old enough to hold a wand
That has ever dreamt of fighting evil
And dying in the name of good?