Ann Christine Tabaka

Lilacs on her grave
my mother’s last wish
an explosion of amethyst
emerging from her heart
the greenness of a spring background
now fading as the widow’s bouquet
dies alongside her groom
resting against the marble stone
now my mother’s headboard
petals falling like the tears that
accompany my memory of her smile
sweet scented footsteps
through the garden
of a time so long ago
and my mother’s final words
“remember me when the lilacs bloom”