Jumping From A Bridge

A woman jumped from a freeway bridge,
that was high but not elevated enough to do the job,
she got up and was hit by an innocent motorist
traveling too fast to stop.

Her daughter was only ten,
already living with a guardian for three years,
removed from custody when her mother showed
signs of a bipolar disorder, or as some people say,
too crazy to care for a child and idiotic enough
to jump from a bridge.

Her daughter lived with the trauma
of that violent death, caught up
in the illusion of normalcy
reaching adolescence and adulthood
never taking the time to dwell on the tragedy

until her son was born
with a port-wine stain across
his face, spreading from his neck to his cheek.

Strangers gasped when they saw
what they thought was a splash of blood.
"It is not his," she said, "but his grandmother's,
who jumped from a bridge  years ago 
and was hit by a car in San Diego."