Safia Begum, my mother

I Heard You Were Soft As Flowers

For Mother’s Day

In indigo silks and

Fields of crocuses

You

Moved with the wind,

Swirling

Saffron dust behind you.

You, I heard,

Were soft as flowers,

And on Fridays,

Fed orphans

Milk with bread and honey…

What I choose

To celebrate today

Is your kindnesses

Beauty and nobility —

Rancor is long gone…

Farida Haque

edited and reposted