Each step I took
away from her
She followed me
her fist in mine
Her curse and sigh
in the sound of my voice

I taste her tears when I cry

She is all the women
I have ever loved.

Joan Durant
copyright 2004

Trees fall into the soup
It's been on the stove simmering
ever since my mother died

Years of aspirin
mixed with her bones
bits of glass and bandages
my baby teeth
and her angry dentures

Joan Durant
copyright 2004

Me, a refugee
as long as I can remember
Longing for the home
I saw
Through the eyes of my father

Each story told
and told again
'til my blood too
could not forget
The stones of the piazza
and The medieval walls
of San Giovanni in Venere

Joan Durant
copyright 2004