Verse

...In the trutfi of daylight, I know this...

...after piece, she showed my mother bottle, cake and tube in the black satchel, illigator-sized mouth ajar — Ifiineapple-orange flavoring, shoe polish, allspice, ^plucked boxes from their elastic loops i conservatory-trained violinist ng pizzicato...

...5 ,' • A *sting%?f Winter in<my eyes> , > *^feirtSt9&$, ^ * "¦ _ ^ ^ •' rt-Th«S^dsil^*ep^ silent aftd apo^|*al,-^red at me 'UritaTiwrningc^inelike the realization of ifn...

...So^e pw|U lov^Willojgw^ Why-did I%«Hfe^ sis^'sitth^on 4& W^M nursiDg, w% thd^iger^ tfef ^^st^«^^p , Ibel^ved^M^ecdo^fad^sta^at^P on^r^at pamrts ^ve diigfe ^ ^ \J' "^Jfflg to capture an Wriftlic goodness : ;'" , ;T...

...I didn't want her to say that my father had a lot of trouble putting in his fifty acres of soybeans, that they needed rain worse than ever...

...but underbellies smooth tike the inside of a woman's leg...

...toying Pizzicato ugh my father carried a leather wallet gth folded blank checks, ¦ i £ mother would snap shut, with a kissing sound, her ':t coin purse, I'fcuilet-pouch wadded full of dollar bills...

...Pl* w^s somgdifeg eveniandf^coukf |^* ^. ^pHj 1 *as,ffian|Bd vtbep te<n^ere% ; ^ l^^ my mother never $$nwg hear ba$p, he^ow^^i brdn?».feafflett!4liSjIi;]es riiitt&^gld |b*^Pt^^^" Her anodymofcs hemjp«artedrfit)at^wfe*S,P LxM$M, - above wooden n«&;e^hr'pr6fcc% sit ^I«^4| TkrtehmmkpGiM, rdj^ay, > ^ ^ * 'l^'|^ admiring ti\y lambs that trowed after, the bottle j^^f Wh^t differeBCe were the 4eepsnowst TT^ -fep^, I'vc'iUHdechoicesibat wjensn't cfo^ftes * J"^c and played games that weren't gaotes...

...carried a stiff cowhide bag stuffed with samples of Watkins Products...

...246: Commonweal or a week I prayed, please god, my lambs...

...24 April 1987: 247...

...S '^^ It wB8-myftth«r^tep^Sj$ ^j^$-cd"^ jP||i unti!they'^retetoo;*Wtotai(ve,-*i 45^- ^^P my brothef^^rag^yeiy^baHdone^stwy ^at9t^p|| andoiTj ov * 5 ''^>:S^ ' WhyJiadi^tJcnowJ^^Kmrt^fftt ^ v-gj .something prescrvable...

...l^aiasl^veftjtesotd - ^- '• ¦<¦<[i>&IiK$%*&& btfor* cold weatter...

...drove in, in a sputtering old model car lira running board, stopped then shifted to neutral...

...V ^ -> *** ¦ fe^fe^^JtoAr mppW fonaula to tiiCffl • > "* *^v" ifj^Se^oJHaTfiwcs petitioned' tay d^6« ^ -"f^ "^>^0r ^rficnrr fall with tfe« We« ankle-deep grass ^ ll#|eii«|^flce*i^toess, jny parents said >- "* ^v...

...the top of its round can had a picture of a St...

...ey still stand, in the night, jftwo warm reasonable faces at arm's length fallen someone I love blames me what I can't change — I wasn't there...

...ThiefS&iibejfbre^hard snows...

...fh^$^ig ^father steered *^ •*-" T the bo|bing flock of SuffoBc ewes fisv&d jae, % „ / he loc|;«<fiiaShW contlng clwer and/feloset^ °* * fhroagfigrouffld-cldtids h$ towed tw6 lambs ' „" with impenetrable, creamy neck-woo...

...Everything went back slowly into place while we stared at the woman's feet, one leg four inches shorter than the other and laced into a platform-soled shoe...

...I almost danced to smell the apple-blossom talc she pronounced again with a big flourish, her dentures loose on the last wordAfter she left I heard my mother telling my father that she always arrives right at dinner when the table's already-been set...

...1 longed for the burn salve as she slid it away...

...Bernard pulling his young mistress onto the rocks, saving her from drowning...

...The times, my mother bought nothing, I was embarrassed...

...I wanted her to say our names too, each one clearly, wave us back, one after another, her children with pitiful and hateful eyes, the children she tried to push away that day, go play, go swing, go upstairs...

...J touched (heir noses and fcofceiirfc A^Ntfs ^E^ I held them in my«pns «itwn$i&v *;^ ^pi leanung to^t^oti^ v ^ ^ jf ^ lira if it gives flying * R ^ '- -? C^Fl theiLUcaifc|eB!ia»^othJo4...

...n see her non-committal nodding s. Fullerton dangled each priced item * our eyes like perfect-attendance badges...

...I wanted my mother to say the names — vanilla extract, gardenia .cologne, balsam-pine handcleaner for men...

...This morning I called home...

...from even deeper, she'd pull Qint-flavored toothpaste, coconut pudding mix, gelatin powder, tweezers, a paperback book of four O'Henry stories and baking powder...