2010
06.22

she says
‘when you stop learning
you start dying . . .’
and i agree . . .
right up to the time
i see my mother with Alzheimer’s

is she dead?

it’s like a whole library being eroded
by water falling through a damaged roof
it’s like the world exploded

silently
and I can see the ever distant stars
through the holes in her

she says
‘when you stop learning
you start dying . . .’
maybe
the memory of the spirit is never about facts and details . . .
perchance that is why children are so open


© William C. Burns, Jr., 2010