I Cannot Remember My Mother

I cannot remember my mother

Only sometimes in the midst of my play

A tune seems to hover over my playthings,

The tune of some song that she used to hum

While rocking my cradle.

I cannot remember my mother

But when in the early autumn morning

The smell of shiuli flowers floats in the air

The scent of the morning service in the temple

Comes to me as the scent of my mother.

I cannot remember my mother

Only when from my bedroom window I send

My eyes into the blue of the distant sky,

I feel that the stillness of my mother's gaze

On my face has spread all over the sky.