The first time I saw my father embrace
my mother was when she struggled through
cancer. Framed in my mind is a wild-haired
woman in a limp flannel gown, held stiffly
in Father’s heavy hands at the end of his three-
piece suit. Mother was a strong woman.
You are a lot like her. She struggled all her
life. Though it was unusual, she worked
on the Lakeshore Visitor, the Catholic news-
paper, with Monsignor. Later, she kept books
at the rectory, smoothing over the worries
of grammar, finances, and sin. Both my parents
worked on a paper. Later, when she no longer
could climb the stairs, she stayed in the living
room. At night, she turned around to undress.
She did not like her children or grandchildren
to see she had just one breast.
Lake Angela is a poet, translator, and choreographer living in Warrington, Bucks County. She holds a Ph.D. in the intersemiotic translation of poetry and dance from the University of Texas at Dallas. Her books include “Organblooms” and “Words for the Dead” (FutureCycle Press). Her work advocates for neurodivergence and schizophrenia spectrum creativity, and she welcomes visitors to www.lakeangeladance.com.
Poet’s Corner is curated by Bucks County Poet Laureate Tom Mallouk and supported by a grant to the Bucks County Herald Foundation made possible by Marv and Dee Ann Woodall.
To submit a poem for consideration, email it to Heraldpoetscorner@gmail.com. If the poem has been previously published, please say where it first appeared.
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