For my cousin Cait.
The history is in Edina.
Chipmunks would run up grandfather’s cane.
A dumbwaiter and a laundry chute.
A bedroom for him and for her.
Chairs in the living room not meant
For sleeping or sitting.
The grand piano out of tune.
Apple juice with pull tabs
Abundant in the cupboards.
Grandmother kept thin with
Amphetamines.
The history is Thanksgiving
Eve
When snow first fell.
Behold the pen while writing a cheque.
When laughing by the waterfall at the Rosedale Mall.
My cousin with a voice like roses.
Bouquet is a word borrowed from the French.
The way a bakery will
Borrow flour from a bank.
My cousin comes to the porch
To recover.
White rabbits in the evening
Eat the bird seed.
I want to be
Discovered
By forty-six.
It’s a cold dawn
That brings forth
Milk in the refrigerator.
My cousin
Smoking in the living
Room
The glow from camera
Bulbs and flowers
Later at her funeral.
Teach me Mississippi
How to river
In a wise way.
I’ll visit Minnesota
Where I was born
When I’m older.
For my cousin Cait.
The history is in Edina.
Chipmunks would run up grandfather’s cane.
A dumbwaiter and a laundry chute.
A bedroom for him and for her.
Chairs in the living room not meant
For sleeping or sitting.
The grand piano out of tune.
Apple juice with pull tabs
Abundant in the cupboards.
Grandmother kept thin with
Amphetamines.
The history is Thanksgiving
Eve
When snow first fell.
Behold the pen while writing a cheque.
When laughing by the waterfall at the Rosedale Mall.
My cousin with a voice like roses.
Bouquet is a word borrowed from the French.
The way a bakery will
Borrow flour from a bank.
My cousin comes to the porch
To recover.
White rabbits in the evening
Eat the bird seed.
I want to be
Discovered
By forty-six.
It’s a cold dawn
That brings forth
Milk in the refrigerator.
My cousin
Smoking in the living
Room
The glow from camera
Bulbs and flowers
Later at her funeral.
Teach me Mississippi
How to river
In a wise way.
I’ll visit Minnesota
Where I was born
When I’m older.