Travel And Mother Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

It is every summer
In every two years
I make a trip to visit my mother.
My mother is my umbilical cord
in the island where I was born -
more than 6 thousand miles away
from where I write these lines.

My mother is the sea,
the shoreline, the beach,
the song, the winds, and the boats
of my island where I was born.
My mother is my history,
my memories and child games,
my growth and my duty.

But by death after her 95 summers,
she departed my home island
and left a vacuum in my heart.
I still wish to make this trip -
this visit, this summer
in my home island
where mother used to breathe.

I would like to retrace her presence
in the island - smell her food,
retrieve her smiles, laughter
and stories of faith in God
whom she has trusted
in her long-blessed life.
by her songs of joy.

But will Corona that
dominates the world scene
allow me to travel?
_____________
April 17.2020 (My mother died, December 12,2019)