Mother’s Memory

[My mother is warm—
the lilies bloom & she breathes,
poisoned and sun-drunk.]

                                               Even the glaciers in their white dresses shiver—

[Ampersand, moonshine;
the shape of her smile thaws all:
ultraviolet heat.]

                                                —when the icicles fall from the hospital ceiling—

[The cloudiest day—
but her sunbeam memories
make the morning glow.]

                                                 —and her body freezes in the ice sheets.