Mother Is On The Beach

The old man rocks himself to sleep on his bed.
The light stays on...his wife used to turn it off.
He can't bring himself to bother.

Quanyin sits atop her lotus blossom,
emptying her vase of nothing, always,
and nothing ever spills out.

A dirty faced boy asks important questions.
He expects clear answers. His first mistake.
Just who does he set you up to be for him?

There's an e-mail in your inbox and you have
no idea how it got there. What pushed the buttons
over there is pushing the buttons here, where you are.

Mother is on the beach. Sand trapped under toe nails.
Salt on fair skin. She tries to smile for father, to let out
the joy she felt since she had her little girl. She's stopped.

I am rocking with the old man who cries on his bed.
My nose runs with his. My tears stream like his as I
pass out. I wish I could turn the light out for a moment.

Where is she to help me with that last thing before sleep?