You In Me

(for mom on mother’s day)

 

I see you in me

the lines that crease my face come from a different sort of living,

but they are the same lines that have gently etched your story

 

I see you in my eyes, early in the morning,

when I stare, just a bit longer, to try to find out

who am I becoming?

and to see, maybe, what others can see

 

I see you in the photographs of me as a little girl

captured in a world I no longer remember

and I see you in the brief glimpses of my hips or shoulder

reflected in a window as I go about my day

 

I hear you in my voice, both in the moments of frustration & in the tenderness

pieces of you, occasionally, escaping my lips

finding their way into my own children

My hands have begun to make music, but they are not your hands

My knees have begun to ache, whispering warnings to take care and stay strong

And even my words get lost sometimes, making me wonder where lost words go

 

And now I watch my daughter…

She won’t see you in her mirror or hear you in her words

but when she finds my face in hers

and hears my song as she hums

you will be there.