About My Mother

Last Wish

Defeated by hair fall,
her face resembles a plant
that's stayed unwatered for too long.
Her eyes are full of longing -
like a child's in a candy store.

There she lies, on that single bed
occupying barely half of it;
the rest filled with unfulfilled wishes.
Her gaze follows me around as I stack her pills
into neat trays, neat days, neat promises.

We dare not speak
about what we are about to lose
We'd rather make sure
nothing remains unfinished.
Like - acquiring a pair of rabbits,
Eating Durian fruit
Watching that movie from the 40's together,
when she was just a kid,
mowing through a field of marigolds
with a wheelbarrow of songs.

But then she breaks the dam -
says she wants to be around
to attend her grandson's wedding.
My face crumples like a piece of paper
He's only fifteen...she'll never make it.
Why did she have to say that?

Of course you will...I say without a voice
At night, in the soft light of the lamp,
I watch her delicate wishes
filigree themselves into her protruding cheekbones
and pierce my heart.
I collapse like a wall of un cemented bricks.
*********