This fruit from Assam,
This sour species of
Evergreen,
Don’t forget I was a
Child hugging their mother,
Watching her eat you
As she read ‘Salem’s Lot.

Remember I rode horses
With her in Carver,
And we fed them apples
In our winter coats.
Remember she took me
To museums
And stood behind while
I read about Chippewa
And wild rice paddies,
About Leech lake
And the Battle of Sugar Point,
About Minnehaha
Hiawatha,

And…

I went with her to Disney World
And she sat with me
While my asthma stung,
Listening to Orlando rain.
I smelled pine on the
Rag used to wipe
Her forehead.
I watched the Chemo
Needle take her vein.
I ate you silently
The morning she.

Sister of Citron,
Know that I will never
Forget the sound of her teeth
And hard candy,
the
Click
the
Clack
the Yellow Heart,

the Sound of You.