Ampules in Medias Res

Discarded vials of blue oud

and tomato leather left strewn askew

                 on the bathroom shelf. 

I wonder if you noticed this metaphor of ampules

in medias res.

I wonder if you remember you told me

how worried you were

your mother was going blind. 

Which I took to mean you were anxious

     that

the only person on earth who sees you

will soon be gone.

Distance measures both time and space. As in:

They were as sad and bereft as

I’ve ever seen

anyone by some distance.

Walking into the mist of blue oud

is like tossing rice into the air at a wedding

and stepping forward into the gentle

diaspora of debris. 

We visit mom by remixing

her traditions and traveling

into her clouds.

—January, 2026

Published by Midsummer Dream House, April 2026.