after House and Spiral in the Rain by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (New Zealand, b. Austria), 1962 CE
for my mother, Memoona Rashid
1.
La Mousson
The fig, banana, and papaya trees, at last, give in to the weight of the wind/rainstorm – from the night before. As their broken torsos kiss the drowning twigs and leaves in the flooded alley, their exposed rings tell the tales of yesteryears.
2.
Bagh-e-Eden
My mother sobs: she had ever so carefully sowed the seeds in her miniature garden with her bare hands, when we moved into this newly refurbished house in the Summer of ‘18 CE. She named it: Bagh-e-Eden (Garden of Eden).
3.
Pandora’s Box
At the time of planting the trees and decorating the Bagh – with an assortment of clay flowerpots; clothed in the Persian medallion, boteh ‘n floral motifs – she was thinking of her three sons; all three had left home as soon as they turned 18; and she was praying deep inside her heart that her sons always stayed stronger and grew taller in the face of this Pandora’s Box of a world.
