Poem of the Week #19

Picture of Mother

She smiles out
past cut paper snow flakes
taped to the window;
snowflakes we made together
one Christmas long ago.
She saved them
for years in a shirt box
always careful
not to break
the peaks and prongs.

I took the photo
when I was grown
and she remarried
living in a different house
than the house
where we cut paper.
Her face is obscured
by reflections
on the window;
the light conditions
were all wrong.
But, her smile is bright,
like a snowflake
on your mitten
before it melts.


Lisa Vihos