*
*
Three Phases of Relationship
- Acceptance
Yes, you became a desiccated, yellow frog
Yes, you turned inward as
the gates locked behind you
left me standing on the risers
in my ivory sheath with the cowl collar
mortarboard askew
*
2. Harvest the good
Books.
You savored them like cream soup
warm, rich, filling, coating the palate
You fed them to me, read them to me
gave me freedom:
checking account, contraception
gave me trust:
to wander across France
with my twenty-one-year-old cousin.
I was fifteen.
Sumptuous fruit
from a working mother
*
3. Forgive everything else
The distraction, empty eyes
endless phone calls
lessons you should have taught
about sex, mothering, marriage
lessons you modeled
about manipulation
your wordless departure
sounded like abandonment
since we never said
a proper goodbye
Tangled Magic 