clear mountain

my grandmother rises a mountain

sits on a plastic blue chair in our bath

delicate thin freckled skin

softened brown against plastic eggshell walls and tub

running waters from the faucet

i fill the tabo with warmth

lift it over her shoulders to wash down in waterfalls

over her breasts, down her arms, wrinkles and belly, thighs and legs,

to wash away at the shores of her feet

we

are quiet

i am careful

she lathers over

land that has lived

a quieted volcano

eroded at her edges

sunken moments and overflows overlapping

pumping veins of raised rivers where i would trace

my fingertips instead of listening to sermons at mass on sundays

it’s beautiful to re-member

where we come from –

as i was a seed

in my mothers womb

within my grandmothers womb

swiming in the lining of memory within memories –

and that i was blessed to nurture the mountain that once nurtured me

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nicole gervacio is an artist in occupied Ohlone territory, Huchiun - also known as Oakland, California. they are inspired by bodies, memory, permanence versus impermanence, are driven by a fear of forgetting, and navigate with ancestors and future generations. nicolegervacio.com