A Gift From My Aunt

This poem was inspired by my favourite aunt who died from cancer. She gave me a yellow, stuffed, "heart-to-heart" bear one time when I was very young. I still have it today. This poem is dedicated to her.

Every night I choose a stuffed toy to accompany me while I sleep
It's always the same one, a soiled yellow bear
Hugging it always brings me back to my childhood
I was only four when you placed it in my arms
Embracing it with childhood glee
Never did I think that that would be my last image of you
Mother said you had gone to a better place
Knowing I was still too young to understand
I hug the bear tighter to feel the beating
Of the battery-operated hear that's encased in the left side of it's body
As I do every night at this time
I close my eyes and in an instant we're reunited
Once again I could hear the safe beats of your heart and mine
Beating rythmically, simultaneously
Mother shakes me awake, it's morning
I investigate my surroundings, realizing that I'm back in the present
All I'm left with is a memory,
A soiled bear,
And the artificial beating of its heart