Daughter’s Lament

Elegy for Mom

Photo by Alfredo Viramontes on Unsplash

My mother died today
And the world 
Put on a shroud
Of thick dark
Clouds and keened
As the heavens
Opened and rain
Poured heavy and 
Cold for a summer day.

My mother died today
And as we gathered
Around her deathbed
We held our own 
Wake of remembrance
As we laughed 
Through tears 
Telling our own: do you
Remember the time when…

My mother died today 
And I sat in her room
Surrounded by things 
She held dear like
Her favorite book
The spine cracked from
Multiple readings 
Each item a recollection 
A placeholder for her fragments. 

My mother died today
And my thoughts scattered
Like wind-blown ashes
Hers were the hands that
Wiped away tears 
Her voice touching me
As only the first voice 
You ever hear could
Her smile shining out from her eyes.

My mother died today
And I feel her essence already
In the memories I share
Stories I tell
The love and kindness
I pass unto my daughter
I honor the examples she left
Living as good and full a life 
Knowi…