What If She Only Knew

And Mama pins laundered sheets on the clothesline Raising her creamy arms with a hum, Gentle against tainted bricks of our wall Right in front of this grassy yard… My velvet dress all spruced up Fragrant, pressed by morn’s daylight On luster of mid-autumn: I observed and scanned her thinning curves While I paused to grasp that final snapshot; Enough for me to watch her caring touch The way she would affably blot out my girlish tears Crawling down her hands: The backdoor now swings loudly, then quietly Exposing run-down, decaying frames Which rarely irks a mood so airy as that last smile In twilight’s passing: Robed in clean lacy gown, Dreary heaves falter to speak …if she only knew I tucked my velvet dress for my child, O Mama’s legacy. * 8/26/2019 If Only You Knew: Silent One’s Contest *