The Mother

on the patio she lounges
enjoying the swift zephyrs
of an autumn morning

her shoulders, wrapped snug
in a ragged zentangle-printed shawl
mask the freckles collected
like tally marks for every day
of skipped sunscreen

her breast, a petal of hibiscus
plucked at by her youngest child
who now stretches the length
of her extended arm

her eyes of shaded copper
beam brightness, vibrancy
but shade creeps out from beneath
her lower lids, forming  contrast

her hair, untamed, shows traces
of silver gradient, glistening
from her scalp, strands slowly fading
lacking pigments, replaced with whiteness
unraveling, an ephemeral bloom