brown maple leaf

i have a dry, brown maple leaf
in my hand ...

she was growing older
her eyes weaker

it was cold
the wind was blowing

she stood alone in her garden
leaning hard, against the fence

this was the only free hour she had
early before they all awoke

she'd worked for years this way until
she'd forgotten how hard it once was, until it was routine

she cooked she cleaned and there were all those kids
shopping, mending, clothes, homework, cuts, bruises, fevers, fights

and yesterday she overheard
a friend asked her eldest what whats ur mum

and he said ...
nothing.

she thought about it now as the sun woke up
unnoticed, a little tear slipped out

she thought of the work she'd done before
when she'd been a girl, a woman, a human ... not just mom

suddenly there was a sound behind
one of them woke up and called ....

a desperation in the sound ... mom ... like the end of the world
and she ran in ... all thoughts forgotten

that was the moment, this maple leaf fell
somewhere else in the universe ...