When my mother left there was fire –
The air ripe with the wrong things; tears, skin, fear
Feet bolting down dirt roads going nowhere
Liberty caged
Beyond the reach of black and brown hands
Too close and too far
Onto a boat and into the New World
Where the sky went on forever
Colour and space
Gumtrees
Birds that laughed and sang
Tires screeching down brand new highways
Shock
Adaption
Light
The old home sits there still
My mother’s first love
Beauty without warmth
Death with no birth
It beckons
Bleeds
But that story is over
Life is freer
And she is here