My Mother Saw A UFO

She had resisted the temptation of a dishwasher

in honour of her mother

and meditation

she stood at the sink that afternoon

letting her hands find their way

letting her fingers coax and clean

while she gazed out of the kitchen window

out over the back garden and the lives of our neighbours

into a milky blue sky

 

it appeared in silence and hung there

a simple, small grey shape

it was not a trick of the light

it was not a smudge on her glasses

it was not Age and his magic tricks

as this was her summer

her hair still black, her eyes still clear

minutes passed, she watched

it watched

 

she felt her heart almost fall to her stomach

when the shape moved, once and then again

how quick it moved

how quick it stopped

how it seemed to belong

how it seemed to be just it and her

and no one else

and then it was gone

absorbed by the sky

and she could finally blink again

 

though she knew it would not come back

she stood at the sink

watching

her hands continued to find their way

her fingers continued to coax and clean

what else could they do