Mo’ther (mudh-), n. A female parent.

My mother was neither cradle nor lap

She was a sword, an arrow, an argument

Beautiful, sharp, and feline

Neither refuge nor anchor, my mother was a battle

A step at a time

We load the car with your grief and mine

Two suitcases and the guitar

A home called Trudi

Money, power, titles, aesthetics, social class, or eloquence, never impressed her

The Therapist

It would be a voyage, she said

The destination: a more genuine, examined, less fragmented, version of myself

Beyondness

Where does the mind disappear to when bad news strikes us?

Relevos

Hoy vi a la viejita que llevo adentro

Determinada, atrevida se asomó sin escrúpulos

Melba, the weaver

Melba became a pampered toddler; mothered by plenty, mothered by none