your mother
was an island
of strength
in a traumatic world––
a mountain of
trust & stability
she taught you
to be an island
& a mountain
to persevere &
persevere
through the hardest
most impossible
days
islands & mountains
can never disappear––
they keep their place
in the order of things
always
especially those mountains
with beating hearts––
the ones who cherish
the sky & the earth &
the unending work––
the ones who
care & care & keep on
caring
the forever mountains
not made of stone––
the mother-daughter
mountains