’Til Winters Frost

Mama walks with

short, shaky steps

crunching

fallen leaves.

Her struggling breath

rattles

through her lungs

like wind across the trees.

She gently lays

a gnarled hand on wrinkled bark

whose branches are near bare

and tears

slip

down her face

betraying all her fear.

Mama is like autumn

stubbornly holding on

each day slowly

letting go

'til winters frost is come.