back MAYA SARISHVILI
translation from the Georgian by Nene Giorgadze and Timothy Kercher

Memory

Grey is more reliable.
Doughy hands don’t fit in
the frames of another color.
Up to her elbows, my mother’s arms
are seen only in grey squares.
Her fingers have grown into sweet dough.
The staircase railing she bakes
is never ready.
Even now I could fall down from here.  end