A poem for my mother...
A poem I wrote for my mother the year after she died...
Signs
Oh where have you flown, then,
sweet mother of mine?
Why, on beyond Zion
I’m seekin’ a sign.
I’ll follow the ridgelines,
where the sourwoods bloom,
with my sights on the north star,
‘til I find my way home
And where will I find you,
sweet mother of mine?
In the arch of a rainbow,
I’ll send you a sign.
In the purr of a kitten,
Or the whippoorwill's cry,
you can still feel my softness
when the autumn leaves fly.
And how shall I know you,
when your voice is long gone?
By the laughter of others
and your own, raised in song.
In the smiles of your children,
the embrace of a friend,
for the spiral of love never
comes to an end.
2003