Her cigarette laced breath,
her promises that she'd quit,
broken,
I remember it clearly.
Hair bleached with the roots brown,
fried,
I remember it clearly.
Green of her eyes murked with swampy brown,
Surrounded by eyeshadow and poorly drawn eyeliner,
Surrounded by crows feet and clogged pores,
I remember them clearly.
Barbie nose,
Bridge lithe,
sharp,
I remember it clearly.
Everything about her was frail.
Wrists of a 9 year old,
bones of a 70 year old,
her body wasn't her age.
I remember.
I remember,
Her crooked back,
Stooped with age and baddened posture,
I remember it clearly.
Her rotten teeth,
Her eating disorder,
What did you eat today?
It was a habit to ask
She doesn't think I remember,
But,
I remember.
I remember my mother.
You left me.
but I remember.