MY MOTHER'S BERET Poem by Dumitru Crudu

Back when she was still alive one day my mother Lost her Beret, which she was very attached to. Her favourite beret, A wee one, Like a cactus. A green one, like a parrot. When she visited relatives She put it on her head. When she went shopping, She wore that beret, Whether it was winter or summer, whether It was raining or snowing, she invariably left The house wearing that beret. But which she lost Three years before she died and suffered Hugely because of it. She suffered so greatly that She couldn't sleep at night. A few times I even caught her Crying. That beret which she bought In her youth. Probably it was the first thing she bought After she got married to dad. Now I have found it. Now that my mother is no longer alive. I found it behind the sofa. I can't even imagine how it got there. I picked it up and turned it on every side. I shook the dust off it and I looked at it carefully. But my mother is no longer alive for me to give it to her. How overjoyed she would have been if she had seen it. That wee beret as big as a cactus and green as a parrot. But I didn't throw it away. I put it in a bag, Ready to give it to her at any moment should she ask for it, Even though I know there's no way that will ever happen Unless one day I lose my mind.