upon hearing the news
that you would soon be gone
my heart was filled with the patterns
of your dresses,
your worn shoes,
and silk stockings.
watching you dress in flimsy slip,
your feet
small
and notted with arthritis
you rubbed with linaments
and placed carefully in small
houseshoes.
black bobby pins
in your thin silver hair,
your watch on a chain
you held to my ear
as you rocked me to sleep on your lap.
sugar cookies
and cold milk,
corn masa kneeded in your strong hands
and slapped on black comal
for breakfast
lunch
and dinner.
afternoon naps in the long
hot
south texas afternoons.
laughter that bubbles
and chatter with comadres
over caffe con leche
and pan dulce or cake.
and reciting 'santa maria'
in the dark
in the room
before you'd sleep at night.