This poem will be read by my niece at the service on Thursday 4/2019
My Mother’s Comal
My mother wore red
When she gave birth
Red is the smell of blood
Red is the sound of her heartbeat
Sonorous, deep, steady
She wore red to protect us
To swaddle, feed, and lull us to sleep
My mother wore orange
When she sang and danced.
When she added spices to our dinner–
She hummed and whistled songs.
It is a juicy color full of energy
Orange is the sound of laughter
And the smell of cumin
My mother wore yellow
When she pushed us out of the door
To go to school, to church, to play
She wanted to give us more than she had
She wanted us to shine
Yellow is the color of the sun, of power—
It is the sweet flower and sour fruit of the lemon
My mother wore green
When she painstakingly made family photo albums.
She saved these, our bronzed baby shoes,
And her family treasures…in an old trunk.
Green is the color of compassion and growth and tough love
My mother wore green when she crocheted her spirit
Into blankets for her babies
My mother wore blue
When she was enriching her mind
And she encouraged us to do the same
Philosophy, theology, theosophy–we read them all
We enjoyed long, deep conversations
And she was thrilled to have children
Who wrote poems and painted and danced.
My mother wore indigo
She trusted her wisdom and intuition
And the natural energy of her cells
For healing and understanding
Indigo is the color of the mystics
And it is no mystery as to why
She never seemed to age
My mother wore violet when she passed away
It is the color of transcendence
And all those words we learned
When we wore blue…have no meaning now
She is purity and peace and light
But the red of her heart
Will forever beat in us.
(c) bjbeyers 5/2017
revised 3/2019
barb j beyers 