Buoyant

She is wrinkled, sunken,

In her chair with clothes

That hang on her bent

Eighty-year old frame.

And she is formidable.

Never tell your mother,
She says, if your husband
Or children cause you
Grief.  You will deepen
Her grief and yours,
Defending them to her.

She raised her children,
She survived a husband.
She knows.  Her stories
Have an underside but
The loss and heartache
Are almost missed in
Her buoyant laughter.