Dear Letter

For mother

1.
I am writing to tell you
that the burning
has begun.

2.
Although it is still cold at night,
the lemon tree
outside the kitchen door
already has white blossoms.

3.
Yesterday
on the freeway
driving back
I rode over a small buck.

4.
Smoke from the fires
filled the inside of my car,
even with all the windows
tightly shut.

5.
There was a small dam
beside the road
and somehow the sun
had fallen into it.

6.
I am sorry
but when I saw you yesterday
(after such a long time)
it struck me suddenly
that you were an old woman
and not a mother any more.

7.
There are some knots
it seems
that are possible to undo
even if they have been tied tight.

8.
The small buck on the freeway
was already dead.
But that did not stop it
making a sound
against the undercarriage.

9.
A strange
flat sound
like the echo of something
that long ago
had stopped happening.

10.
It is that time,
as I said.
The burning has begun.

11.
All the animals are fleeing.

12.
Your eyes.
Oh mother,
your eyes.

13.
Filled with so much smoke.