scattered

               in the autumn
                             of my mother’s mind there
              are stories,
                      before the colors of her speech
              fall away
                       from her grasp…

 

                     still, she
                 has her gesturing branches,
                   and the twigs of her expression;
                  the passionate brightness
                   that moves, those last
                           lively
                         leaves…

by Katy Rugg, age 40, Cambridge, MA