There’s a chorus of kids singing
e i e i o
and she says e i o my daughter
remember that song?
I’ll be the farmer
but you can’t come to my dell.

She’s approaching my door
as a new neighbor.
Hello ghost, come inhabit me.
Hello Mother, I can’t call you a ghost (though your ashes
are in a box on my altar)
you’re still my mother.

e i e i oh my mother,
I got a new job as a nanny and I’ll sing all the songs you sang
The hills are alive
with the sound of you o e i e i oh
Mother where is your voice besides

on the cell phone voicemail? I still call, your
husband still calls, there are messages of hiccups, sniffles, sobs.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine

Be my lantern, be my lighthouse
be a tablet I take daily
so I will always have you in me.

02/20/2007

Posted on 02/21/2007
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Marie Brodsky