Verse 5., “Flare,” by Mary Oliver, “The Leaf and the Cloud.”

“My mother
was the blue wisteria,
my mother
was the mossy stream out behind the
my mother, alas, alas,
did not always love her life,
heavier than iron it was
as she carried it in her arms, from room to room
oh, unforgettable!

I bury her
in a box
in the earth
and turn away
My father
was a demon of frustrated dreams,
was a breaker of trust,
was a poor, thin boy with bad luck.
He followed God, there being no one else
he could talk to;
he swaggered before God, there being no one else
who would listen.

Listen, this was his life,
I bury it in the earth.
I sweep the closets.
I leave the house.”