The Psychiatrist Says She’s Severely Demented -- Bobbi Lurie

(Poem #76)The Psychiatrist Says She’s Severely Demented But she's my mother. She lies in her bed, Hi Sweetie, she says. Hi Mom. Do you know my name? I can't wait for her answer, I'm Bobbi. Oh, so you found me again, she says. Her face and hair have the same gray sheen Like a black and white drawing smudged on the edges. The bedspread is hot pink, lime green. Her eyes, Such a distant blue, indifferent as the sky. I put my hand On her forehead. It is soft, and she resembles my real mother Who I have not spoken to in so many years. I want to talk to her as her eyes close. She is mumbling something, laughing to herself, All the sadness she ever had has fled. And when she opens her eyes again, she stares through me And her eyes well up with tears. And I stand there lost in her incoherence, Which feels almost exactly like love. -- Bobbi Lurie