*
*
mine took charge
she ran the preschool office
kept the accounts, did taxes
organized the family social life
cooked fabulous meals for guests
dressed in a sari
when no one else did,
(unless you were from India)
*
she told me about birth,
demonstrating with a rubber band
she gave me her opinion on
contraceptive methods
she discouraged me from cheerleading
encouraged me to learn guitar
sent me off to summer school at college
instead of summer camp
*
she was emotionally distant
deferred to my father’s needs
never stopped smoking
during breast cancer
shriveled up and passed away
while passing on her wanderlust,
passion for Durrell and forties swing
her eyebrows
and her pen
Tangled Magic 