One day, a neighbor invites me to meet
a black-clad woman who claims to be
my mother.
This lost-and-found Mamá gives me candy
and little gifts, even though I’m almost thirteen,
too old to be distracted by toys and treats.
I learn that she never died.
She simply chose to deceive me.
She didn’t want me, but now she does.
Is it because I’m famous, and she imagines
riches?
Forgiveness is a question
I can’t answer yet.
After all, how long will it take for her
to forgive herself—centuries,
millennia, eternity?