not her first rodeo
our mother’s 1st quarantine was in 1931 at 7
in a sanatorium for tuberculins +the fevered
clothes burned before+after frankly scarlet
i have the photo she stands beside a tree all
dickensian+waif thin ragdress palliddistress
not smiling like those dustbowl kids begrimed
+saintly
her sister julie was taken by the other plague
the diphtheria at 6 all trials are etched into
the central nervous system yet mother’s doc is
blithely unaware of this
when she peppers me with pointed less questions
i play dead what else can a girl do as the covid
stalks her old mother
that early stint in solitary paved the way for
a lifetime of dreading ALONE yet yesterday
she asked for a break from the facephone !
can u all give me some space! the couch is getting
crowded and my brownbroth awaits 2 bowls!
as god is my witness i’ll never be hungry again
__
..as god is my witness they’re not going to lick me..
i’m going to live through this if i have to lie, cheat,
steal or kill .. (Scarlett 1936 + Frances 2020)
Spring 2020 ..8 weeks in solitary +counting..
