I am becoming my mother,
like countless women before me became theirs -
all withering skin
wry remarks
and unremembered things
We both had our days as peach laden boughs of the same tree.
We walked with authority
first she
then me
both heavy with our fruits
heady with our responsibilities
and lavish with our endless judgments
We sprang up from our beds every morning
like a step springs from the earth that bears it.
We harnessed the downward force
and bounded forward
heedless of warnings.
Who had time to heed warnings?
The duties were many
the moments were too few.
Gravity both gave us our bounce
and kept our charges still
What neither of us knew then
we both know now
she dead, me following her closely:
As much as we loved gravity
gravity couldn’t have cared less
about us
All images are my own unless otherwise stated