To Mother

Where did you go, As the soles Of your feet Grew blue- As your familiar eyes caked Into unfamiliar Halos of smoke? Where did you go, When your hand failed To grasp my own, And only your lips- Rubbles of pavement- Gaped at the sound Of my voice? Where did you go, When those halos froze, Suspended somewhere, And those pavements froze, Buried somewhere, That I could not reach? Where did you go, When they turned your body Into flames, Leaving only dust? And how is it, I am here and you, Are not? How is it, I will return To an empty nest, Where mothers are the ones, Who fly away, While I remain, Hiding in the facade- The very mirage of you Bound to the couch Where you once reigned, Even when disease Had reigned you. And how, How can it be, That when I go back to that nest- Walk up to that couch- I am greeted, By the silent shine Of a box that is not you?