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Mother
has spent most of her adult life
in California
but like elephants
well-to-do ladies
from Brookline, Massachusetts
know exactly where their bones should lie
when I die
pack me off to Mount Auburn
don't just sack and scuttle me
out here on the West Coast
and there is something else
i've recently learned
about elephants
they prefer to face death alone
no need to come home
you know how your younger brother
exaggerates
this counterpoint to:
she refused to see us
i think the radiation
is killing her
and what can you say to that
long distance
except how bad you feel
not being there to help
hoping they won't suspect
how glad you are that you aren't
and following this
the guilt
but life is never easy
and what was once the size of a fist
shrunk to the size of a pea
and this medical miracle puts me right back in line
behind
a trumpeting old pachyderm
who loves the circus
too much
to ever give up her ivory
-- from Speaking
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