Lemon Verbena
"Lemon verbena … is a … perennial shrub…. It prefers full sun, a lot of water, and a light loam soil, and is sensitive to cold." (Wikipedia 04/07)
When i was very small
my mother
smelled of lemon verbena
~ just in t r a c e s ~
it lingered
on her long fingers,
in her hum, her eyes
in her teeth when she smiled,
in me
~ just traces ~
l e m o n v e r b e n a.
i remember it.
My mother reads
that skin rashes
are attracted by
feelings of unworthiness.
It rings a bell.
My mother says her mother felt that way too.
I mmmhmmm in agreement down the phone.
Her mother gave it to my mother.
My mother gave it to me.
We hold this between us
like a stone.
A moment glides around it
like water, like eels, like Taniwha.
There is no blame.
It takes time, she says.
((time))
I can hear something in her voice
not regret exactly,
but something like it,
there is acceptance
that a mistakeis a mistake.
My mother has made it,
My mother is there.
~ lemon verbena ~
My grandmother takes me to lunch.
What's wrong with your skin?
She quizzes, squinched eye love,
pursed lip.
My grandmother is not.
My grandmother
gave it to my mother
… this feeling.
My mother
gave it to me
… this rash.
But we all have
that faint trace
of
lemon verbena.
