Song to My Family

This human form will pass some day.

With breaths and sighs and wishes

Not so my love for you. It will endure

With each shared reminisce, each solitary

Soulful thought.

My love will be yours for as long as you wish

To hold me in your heart.

When rains forget to fall and form a gauzy web,

Brushing your cheek

You will feel my touch.

You will see me in that small yellow flower that

Triumphantly bursts through a snow bank

in late March.

You will recall my stubbornness as twilight

silhouettes a single oak, refusing to surrender its leaves

When small birds scatter before jays and gulls

You'll be reminded of my haste to ward off

Criticism and hurtful scenes.

(Not to mention memories that lie buried like so many

acorns puckering up the lawn.)

One day you will see a rainbow through a mist

of purple, rose, lavender and gold.

Wrap it around yourself like a blanket, feel

Its warmth and know-you are never alone

My love will be with you always

Love, Mother