Becoming

By Jane Clarke

(after Lorna Goodison)

I am becoming mother
to my mother; closer

to mother than I have ever
been. I feed, bathe

and console my mother
who fed, bathed and consoled me.

I read my mother stories
till she falls asleep

to dream of her mother
coming to take her from me.

Credits

Jane Clarke, A Change in the Air (Bloodaxe Books, 2023).