Blessing, and: My Mother-in-Law, 84, Tells a Story, and: At the Office

Blessing

The girl learning to hulahoop
pink ring 1st wobbling
then orbiting her skinny waist
all the hot July
her mother's in the hospital

Not knowing the word prayer wheel

Not knowing

My mother going thru a litany
of dead pets - the 13-year-old cat
whose kidneys failed, the dachsund
we put to sleep. It was a blessing,
she says

Me not asking-
Is that what you want?

Her not saying-
Please, God, let me die.

My Mother-in-Law, 84, Tells a Story

You have to under
stand - I was their teacher. I left

the school late and ran
into a rag-

ged gang

of children

who stole from strangers. Who knows
where they lived?

I left the school

        late

Those children always stole
        Who knew?

I left the children-

         Who knows

what happened to the children?

Who knows?

I left

At the Office

When I think of your small hand & the sticky warmth of it
        I feel jubilant    as if this dim light
were the sun or pair
        of them - cardinal & pure
profligate    magnified    full of glorious distinction-
         all viewed from a distance
like the dead looking up