Saturday, July 27, 2013

to read what isn't said...

My mother used dreams to
reveal her wishes, talked about shades
of future events as though she could see them in a movie scene
or at the bottom of the coffee cup she cradled for hours
or in the whisper of trees as we walked home from the farm
after a long day picking olives
each a wish expressed by an ancient symbol
she knew so well
ordinary objects to ward off evil and offer
protection all the way home.

But it was her ordinary
gestures
like the re-positioned the cover over my cold feet
offering  lemon and honey water when I had a cough
that kept the affronts of the day behind closed doors.

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Rosaria! Listening to our mothers' dreams and seeing the many ways they expressed love helped to shape who we are today and perhaps because of them our lives today are, at once, an echo of and quite different from theirs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, the ordinary gestures speak volumes. Lovely. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. the opening...the whisper of trees and the rather magic of dreams...the ordinary objects...small thoughtful things like covering the feet...all cool...then the shadow of the daily affronts kinda blows a chill breeze through...

    ReplyDelete
  4. How lovely that you remember such things about your mother! Beautiful gestures that protect...nurture.
    Thanks for the lovely words,
    Becky

    ReplyDelete
  5. There is no substitute for the loving gesture and touch (especially warming up cold feet;) of a mother.

    ReplyDelete