A Wave of Grief Takes Me By Surprise

Pablo Picasso, 1941

Mom didn’t trim her artichokes 

Though it might have been expected it was a nasty surprise 

When a leaf’s spiny tip pricked my finger drawing blood 

I learned to be wary

She guided my hand as I held the knife 

to cut out the tangle that guarded the heart

With her intent I do it now

After supper I cut a mango to share with my son

“Want to gnaw the pit?” “Nah, no pit”  

There was never mango in my mother’s kitchen

A wave of grief takes me by surprise

Then I remember a lifetime ago 

I mistook pit for seed and said,

“A man plants a pit in the woman to grow a baby”

My mother laughed, repeating my gaffe a million times

It’s good to remember her laughter