Eating ice cream on the deck with mom during her 88th October

I took a day off teaching to drive north to ferry my mother to various doctor appointments. She's 88 this year and still living on her own, although it takes more and more support and effort. She's losing body parts and faces various decisions and medical procedures. Still, I'm lucky to have her in my life. This poem came to me in the warmth of the October sun and the quiet business of chickadees.

Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash

Eating ice cream on the deck with mom during her 88th October

fall trimmed minutes 

from each day’s light

and bent the sun

from thick yellow to thin gold

so silently that today,

startled, the ash leaves 

lie scattered on the deck, 

and the chickadees, at first shy, 

now gather at the 

feeder to whisper

of their hunger and happiness.

of course senescence

and the inevitable 

sharpness of winter.

yet today is warm

and October and I sit on

the deck with my mother

in the embrace of a soft

and glorious sun. Her hands

hold an ice cream bar. Her eyes

sparkle. The ice cream

tastes so sweet.

– steve peterson