this is for my mother
without whom

i would never know the brilliance of a sunset
the scent of vanilla and sweet, warm challah
the way the trees look in the morning
– all burning silk and gasping breaths –
the quiet of a forest in the rain
the twisting fear of a deer’s heart,
                        pricking uselessly,
                                            funeral pins in the mouth of a corpse

(Reflection photos from SoWa Market in Boston, Massachusetts. Forest photos from Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Massachusetts. All photos and writing © Carolyn Bick 2016)