mother

2024

you were water 
so you fashioned yourself
in the shape of our needs
indefinite volume
filling each new container
instinctively 
shape-shifting

you were water
so you poured yourself out
until parched
again and again
tapped the source
renewed like rain
arriving in our hour 
of richest drought

you were water
so you leaked
readily
moved on a dime
attuned to the shifts
in our atmosphere
like weather gathering 

you were water
so you learned 
your power
to carry and carve
to bless and cleanse
your unmistakeable 
essentialness
the ability through sheer
force of will
to map a trench around
and through

you were water 
so you basked in the 
homecoming
of the ocean
sank your roots into the sand
breathed in deep
and became 
whole 
again