Another poem for the poirtry contest #11

[Audrey Coward]

I1ve Been Telling Jokes to My Mother



To tell a joke

to my very old mother,

to tell it well,

I have to hold it

in the telling, hold it

in the timbre of my voice,

hands, the angle of my face,

and hers, too,

for she watches just so

as I point to the signposts.

As she comes around each one.

She gives me small signals,

so we make the little turns together,

me just ahead

and her a flicker later.

And if as always,

she falls a little behind

she knows I will wait for her

making little circling sounds

to show her the way back.

And I and my mother and the joke

make a space


Let it unfold,

renew our promise

in this tenuous embrace

of our breaths just above the tabletop.

>From the center let us evoke laughter

here in the mist around our eyes.

Let it reach back to us both

now in a moment of love

until again

she is gone.


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Catalysts for Change
2281F Lakeshore Blvd W
Toronto, Ontario
M8V1A6
416-259-6215
audreycoward @bellnet.ca

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