EVENING IN PARIS
She accepts traveling to far away places
is in the past,
acknowledging that each last visit
stamped a ceremony of finality
into the recesses of her heart.
Living large with an executive in the mainstream of corporate life,
my mom was led to points across the globe.
Often moving, many homes sheltered us
from upstate New York to Southern California.
Rooted in Virginia with grandchildren throughout the country,
her reach is far.
Living with a husband whose memories disappear
like a candle on a windy day,
she has to keep lighting it.
The warmth it provides is fleeting yet all she has.
He is there and he is not
Sixty years of marriage
Vows of a lifetime.
Evening in Paris was what I bought for my mom,
my pennies saved up.
Magic in a beautiful cobalt blue bottle,
perfume so exotic and heady.
As a child I thought I could bring her the world
Now I realize we are it.
The keeper of the memories, the heart and soul
and in our eyes she sees the man she used to know,
in our voices she hears the storyteller who commanded the crowds,
in our serenity she feels the comfort of the man who knew when to hug her.
Nightfall brings wakeful dreams
To walk on a beach with sand covering tired feet
remembering romance and the endless love
which carries her through her days.
