Mama’s Windows As Time Goes By

Elizabeth N. Flores 

April 6, 2025

One

Mama ironing in the den, 

swaying to Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” playing on the record player,

with her children safely in view through the window,

climbing a massive chinaberry tree, 

the landmark of the backyard. 

An hour passes, Mama unplugs her iron to let it cool, 

smiling that this chore is past her, 

playing “That’s Amore” one more time. 

When her children can no longer hear the song, that’s the signal.

Ironing done, lunch soon. 

Two

Mama gathering her children and grandchildren 

outside her Tío Julián’s window at the

Hilltop Tuberculosis Sanatorium,

grateful for the scent of freshly mowed grass, 

knowing it brings comfort to her tío,

who takes great pride in keeping up his yard.

She calms her nervous family with smiles, 

orchestrating waves to Tío Julián, 

who probably won’t see another Christmas,

whose benevolence must be honored.

Three

Mama peering through her window in her wheelchair,

with her COVID face shield on, courtesy of

the nursing home where she now resides.

The family, with great-grandkids in the mix, 

gathers outside the window that

overlooks the residents’ community garden. 

Mama sees a blur of face shields and masks. 

She smiles and starts to sway with her arms,

like a grand conductor of a glorious symphony, 

an endearing sign that she knows those in her midst belong to her. 

Her family begins a collective wave, 

arms moving side to side, as if Dean Martin 

was crooning in the background.

Elizabeth N. Flores, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, taught for over 40 years at Del Mar College and was the college’s first Mexican American Studies Program Coordinator. Her recent poems can be found in the TPA Quarterly, the Windward Review, the Texas Poetry Assignment, The Senior Class: 100 Poets on Aging, edited by Laurence Musgrove, and ¡Somos Tejanas!: Chicana Identity and Culture in Texas, edited by Jody A. Marín and Norma E. Cantú.