For Tim's Mother

There she was, and wasn't -- not
the kind of mother I wanted (and had),
crouched over a note-pad, writing.

She was a different kind of mother, social,
active, stylish, made of a friendly heart,
and with a light touch; she never thought
I needed amending, and maybe thought of me seldom at all
but that I liked, stretched out beneath that canopy of bright leaves ...

She was a mother tree, broad not deep,
but what strength that takes!
calling in to question what we could possibly mean
when we sometimes criticized.

I miss her today.