LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
A MAN NEEDS A MAID
At least 4 maids went mad in our front hall
The last one Lucy shouted obscenities &
kicked the dog We were consoled by the
fact that she didn’t pull a Dexter and chop
up little brother He grew up with a penchant
for horror His favourite film The Shining
The first 3 were named Mary 1 stole pictures
of our mother visiting the Continent They were
found later with captions: Paris was fantastique!
Sounds like the onset of madness to me
In my mind’s eye I see the 1st Mary all dressed
in blue with stigmata on her cheeks Her son in
prison for crimes he never committed Not prodigal
Never returned Mary now straight-jacketed marching
toward a cruiser Each day she wept into our baths
salt mixing with dove mixing with neurosis
The one named Brenda (our 1st not-Mary) fell hard
for my 16 yr. old brother Bestowing the kinds of
kisses our mother would never have dreamed She
later ran off with our neighbor Rubin Stepmother to
Lilibeth & Hilda now a suburban Queen
We lived on a deep & fertile ravine where wild animals
& satyrs cavorted While out front Cadillacs of various
colours gave off a gold-toothed gleam When we drove
out to farm-country our father lowed convincingly & all
the cows for miles around chased us to our mother’s screams
__
Winter 2014
