He had a new wife (had he divorced mother?)
and was eating roast duck when I knocked
Daughter, who is this man?
when Father said those words the air got wet
good-wife-makes-good-husband, he said
stem-stitch, scotch-stitch . . . I felt nothing but shame
Let me not see the death of my child.
Let me not . . . where is it written all prayers are answered?
Noah sent off a white dove and she
returned no more
For the first time in my marriage
that bottomless cup of husband
I said "Will" and "Won't"
Peeling vegetables for dinner, I killed
the feeling in my thumb
Stain does not remove as easily as skin
I worked to the zik, zik of the blade
and nothing but the dripping sink
I counted blessings like pearl potatoes
watching the moon cool and clean
I could not believe how bounty sprung from sand
| 
