From Your Mother

On a gloomy windy afternoon in October The yellow and red leaves Cling to the stretching trees Ripe for the picking By the fingertip Ping Of a raindrop The weight of the divine touch Is just enough To unlatch each leaf From its Mother’s hand Away they flutter Oh my children One by one Look back to me once more Before you walk out our door Let me see your worried smile And the colorful tattoos beneath your collar As you swing your backpack over your shoulder Canvases and brushes tucked under your arm May I kiss you on your cheek? Goodbye Goodbye for now.