Friday, February 15, 2008

Catherine Jane b 14 February 1949

My sister would have been 59 today.
Every Valentine's Day my mother grieved.

I don't know when she died.
My mother never mentioned that,
but it was before I was born.

My mother's little brother
died in the war
somewhere in France, I think,
but she didn't speak of it.

My mother's twin sister
died when they were 10.
Polio took one,
left the other
without physical trace.

So much grieving
can drain love away.
Instead of a cradle
she wrapped me tight in muslin
and put me in the
too hard basket.

3 comments:

  1. I find forgiveness for my mother by walking in her shoes.
    I love this Cally, are you published?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been working on forgiveness since my mother died 19 years ago - every
    time I think I've got it, something jumps out of the big black closet at me
    - but I am a lot closer than I was!

    No, I'm not published.

    ReplyDelete
  3. yeah, you are a poet.
    grief is un-understandable, i think X

    ReplyDelete