is MORE
than just a word...
It is
the woman lying there
beneath
that UNREPENTANT earth
Her now boned knuckles
clutched around
the off-white King James Version (KJV) Bible
we buried her with
Because it was her favourite book
Even though it had leaves
that were falling out;
it had many verses underlined
and I felt the words she read
to comfort her
during hard times alive
might help her
in her +CROSSING+
It was that same Bible that fed her Faith,
fueled her +PRAYERS+
and kept us FED
Her Faith; the most
enduring legacy she left us with
as she died without leaving a will
as, what would be the point?
There was nothing to be divided up or shared anyways!
My mother lived and farmed on ‘family plots’of land
handed down
from generation
to generation
unerringly.
I also insisted that we bury her with her glasses
'Cause she could never see without them
and I figured
she might need them in the After Life
to read the Bible resting on her bosom
the same bosom which held icy mint sweeties
unless they were in her black bag hung on a nail behind her bedroom door.
Miss Amy dispensed
icy mint, Vicks, Vaseline cerrasee and ginger tea
as the cure for every ailment;
belly, head aches and other various cuts and bruises.
For a while I was very dismayed
that her best friend; Aunt Dor
insisted that we give her the glasses
as where ‘Amy was going she naah go need dem!’
I barely held my peace
when some years later,
my brother Dave told me that Aunt Dor had gone blind
Mothers make the world seem a better place.
Less frightening somehow.
She is tangible, VISIBLE confirmation
of the portal through which we entered this world.
The ceremonial goddess whose templed body
hosted our second most important rite of passage.
#Remembering and Missing my Mom: Miss Amy Downer. RIP.
AM
My Mother's
Daughter
Flesh of Her Flesh
Bone of her Bone
Cut from the navel string of her belly
Sometimes I hear her voice in my head
and spilling from my lips
When I borrow HER #Praise
In the Hallelujah choruses
She used to sing
I smell her in the aroma of my kitchen
And on the THUNDER I ((( ROAR))) from DEEP within my Belly
I
AM
My Mother's daughter
#GENESIS...
Where SHE #ENDS
I #BEGIN
