Old Mother’s hands shook,
When pouring my tea
And I’d
Savor the scent of hyacinth.

Old Mother’s hands shook,
When scribing time
And I’d
Wed her fatherless daughter.

Old Mother’s hands shook,
On cloud, under crevice,
And I’d
Lift her cup to lip;

Old Mother’d drink,
Her hands, like the trees,
And we’d
Both cry tears of ecstasy.

I could still smell lavender, hinted
winds from the east I’d once caressed.
And I could still smell that Lavender
When I look down to watch the ants
scurry. Once more, I could still smell
Lavender come empty and my life In
a bubble atop the world. And at last,
the Lavender’s gone, when trees root

elsewhere.

The moon behind palm
Smiles, now,
Like the first time I’d met my
Second wife;

My second life,
My second shot at something,
And in seconds, like lightning,
Lost to dawn.

Ushered came the day that’d drag
When – The sun could burn,
The sun would burn;
The thirst, always there to remind.

So I’d wait on the lawn,
Under that same palm,
Smile; later,
To wed come dimpled stars.