A MOther's Warmth
Patricia Ni
The Warmth
Travels from
The fireplace
With great persistence
To the family chattering joyously
At the dinner table, wrapping the house in
A veil of tenderness. It visits the tree, standing tall
With branches of various ornaments and miniature lights.
They flickered as a greeting, slowly shift from the colors of
Red Green Blue White Yellow.
The youth jubilantly chase one other around the fragile structure
While the adults discuss the changes in their lives since the last
The logs crackle in intervals and settle to the bottom as dull ash.
Mother approaches the tree and bends down to count the boxes
1… 2… 3… 4… 5…
And even more. She smiles warmly as she stands back up, but
Her wrists ache from labor and eyes sprouted with red roots
With many stories to tell through her own walk of life.
But she continues to embrace, to give, to provide
As she sees her past self within those
Glimmering eyes of her kids.
And she persists.