Bayou Queen

(poems go here) When you were eight, your mother took you to Cane River and claimed it as hers. She fed the crocodiles fish she caught with her bare hands and in return they gnawed at Spanish moss and made her a crown, named her the Bayou Queen. Today, while you sit by her bedside, the doctor comes in and asks if you need anything. The life support machine beeps He checks her chart, then closes the door behind him leaving you and your mother to lie underneath pecan trees and stare at cranes in flight Your mother smiles a gold plated crescent moon and tells you to watch how the river moves like silent thunder, like grace in a state of constant motion She throws rocks at trees laughs then puts pebbles in your hand and makes you throw rocks too She braids magnolias in your hair and tells you the grass is just the floor of God’s living room She picks ladybugs from your legs and eats them with reverence The machine beeps The Doctor comes in, adjusts the IV and leaves Your mother runs into the water and stands in the middle of the river It grabs her ankles and tells her to swallow it whole She immediately spits it out but the muddy water flows through her veins. The life support machine beeps You ask her if you can come into the water too She tells you to stay ashore, it is dangerous to try to control a river she does not try ,She lets it move her upstream You run beside her- feet on land- panting The machine beeps Her skin blends with the brownness of the water You ask her to come throw rocks with you She does not listen. The crocodiles swim beside her- faithful companions that do not allow you to get too close You say you are sorry This time, she turns toward you and tells you she forgives you but she is tired. The machine beeps The river moves faster You push through the brush around you and think about how alive you are at this moment You call for her, she does not answer The machine beeps. She laughs and the crocodiles start to sing. The river is so brown now, brown like her legs in her favorite dress The machine beeps You do not see her curls atop the water You hear her singing with the crocodiles You run faster the machine beeps She yells for you to turn away The magnolias are wilting the machine beeps the crocodiles are wailing the machine beeps You do not listen you run faster faster faster until you fall, your bloody knees sink into the earth The river flows on and the machine-