FOR MY MOTHER’S DAY

June 2023 / preceded by May

(I want to read these aloud at my Mother’s grave one day.)

In fits & starts, my life

Buoys along, a balloon tied with a red ribbon.

Called to play, buffed & buffeted by Life

Glittering a starlit reflection.

I gather words like shells lining tidelines

Bending & bagging the world

Finding that sandy windowsill

To climb across, where mortal symmetry

Is of no matter, where Immortality sits;

An open lap to escape into

and be held.

THREE PENS & NO WORDS: A TIME & NO CLOCKS

What to say to Mom after twenty years apart?

She 20 years under, me 20 years more above…

I’m her age when she crossed over –

I recognize her disinterest now as simple survival.

Her feet hurt, her teeth would not chew…

Her pointer finger showed right.

I see now, when I left for home after a visit,

She would go to walk on the beach.

Letting go all I’d spoken, as I now do with others.

It’s not disinterest: it’s simply survival.

An era of silence, her life by the sea

Now me.

FOR ALL MY WORDS & WORLDS

For all the gates I’ve closed behind me,

For time & heartbeats to synchronize

I wait, being halted.

Those strong threads to life now fray

So much to do, yet one day

I’ll put my feet on an imaginary floor

To walk away

I’ll set down knife & fork,

Sit the coffee on the table

Shucking this mortal coil for light & air –

I’ll dust my hands of ink & paper

Lose my keys forever…

Hold no more hands

Answer no more questions

I’ll seek the heaven promised by the nuns.

When reality takes hold, I’ll rip off

This skin-tight cloak

My 12 ounces of soul will rise.

I live life to die, an oxymoron at the last.

I DON’T MIND ANYMORE

That before age & I chose to struggle,

Life was good days & bad

But I walked through even

When my shoes did not fit.

I laughed from my heart

Drank coffee for my soul

Wrote as tho one possessed

By statutes of limitation.

That which I become I already am:

Immortal, unbroken.

I’ll waken from this dream

To the familiar of forever.

I’ve paced off the years learning love

To turn & find Truth is all there is.

I’ll sit on a hard chair, waiting for

A door to open, then dash on through

Going Home!

I HAVE TWO RANDOM MEMORIES MY MOTHER SAID:

It was hard to keep your skirt down

Climbing into a rumble seat

And the other thing I can’t remember.

6/20/2023

Carol borsello