Cease, Cows

She taught me the meaning of
demasiado.
It means too much,
like when there’s a perfectly good chair
sitting across from mine at the dinner table
that my mother refuses to fill or move,
even after ten years.
“But remember,
you can’t use mucho there. There’s a difference.
‘Te amo mucho, pero duele demasiado.’”
Is that what she meant when my brother left his body in the hospital room?
Is that why she cares more for her flowerbed than her own?
But she is glowing now,
she is not empty anymore,
so I don’t dare ruin this for her.
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