recording my mother

#NaPoWriMo Day 30

I can’t believe I made it to day 30. It’s an amazing feeling. My mom has been visiting me and this poem was inspired by her and all the wisdom she shares with me on a daily basis.

i pretend to take her picture
but this game will play is pointless
she knows that I’m recording her
but my mother doesn’t mind

something tells me to document it all
now
something tells me to do more than see her
to do my best to hear her
to encapsulate the wisdom of an African woman
my African woman

my mother has lost two sons and buried dreams
she had to let go of
coming to America was not always easy

she just says things that everyone else is thinking
but pulls you in close rests your head on her shoulder
when she has difficult news for you

we call her the 5 foot mountain
because
she just is

one day i know i will cry myself to sleep
just missing my mother
but i will play her voice
and for now keep
recording