my mother outstretches in the garden
with a thumb through hardened dirt.
i study her softness tracing leaflines
painted deep into her temples.
i learnt my mother holy, hyacinth
lilac begonia, curving in the hallow
as her midrib ebbs in cycles:
tipped across our axil like a guardian
of promise, poised along each tick mark
sprawls a viridescent timeline,
my mother born of nature,
fully present—
ready to transcend into the marrow.
she spills beyond our skyline,
graceful as she merges
with the earth.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 1.
Lydia Falls is a half Filipina poet and teacher who quietly resides in the woods of New York after living abroad in South Korea and Taiwan. Her poetry collection, Beneath the Heavy, was published under Merigold Independent. Lydia’s poems have appeared in Amethyst Review, Midway Journal, NiftyLit, Connecticut River Review, and elsewhere.
See all items about Lydia Falls
