I’m beginning to shuffle,
my older sister says in
our weekly long distance
phone call. Remember
how Mom always yelled
‘pick up your feet’
as we ran to get away
from her, and ‘stand up
straight’ each time she
caught us slouching?
We reminisce about how
straight our mother stood,
her back like a ramrod. We
remember her quick temper,
sweetened by a surprise dessert
after a day filled with scolding.
Neither of us speaks of
our mother’s own eventual
shuffling and slouching,
nor the silence she chose
when we visited, no longer
recognized; instead, we
agree on her quick-tempered
young self, her posture, her
scolding, her excellent pudding.
Martha Christina has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press). Her work appears in earlier issues of Red Eft Review, and recently in Star 82 Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Tiny Seed Journal. Born and raised in Indiana, she now lives in Bristol, Rhode Island.
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