although I hesitate to use
the word, a saint – with
the saintliness of daisies, fresh
air, twilight birdsong, pure and
effortlessly good, adept at ceremonies
from exorcism to wedding and
all in between – presence always
sweet, bemused, unwavering unless
he fell asleep, the heavenly peace
of which his frequent refuge
misfortunate daughter of the
household at the end of West
177th Place – father, tall, dark,
and hatchet-faced, mother round
and pleasant, oldest girl a brown
mysterious wrongness with pug
dog face and mangled garblespeech,
she spent time with my mother
who was a fountain of compassion
and everpatient listening
nicknamed Tinny, she endured the
refining fire of childhood (with
her sensitive nature, we made
her cry by saying “Tin-ny”
in chorus with punitive intensity);
purified, she grew into a
Valkyrie for peace, justice, and
a Better Way – personally in
her jobs and marriage, politically
active against the death penalty
older sister of the Fawn,
this one was more aligned
with Snake – diagnosed with
early signs of scoliosis, she did
nightly exercises that left her
with abdominal muscles whereby
her upper body could rise up
like a cobra’s, weave back
and forth until she hypnotized
you with her gutsy powers
in the hard luck house
next door there lived a
teenage son, amazing creature
from a realm that figured in
my future too – once I saw
him saunter through their
living room, nothing but a
towel around his waist – whoa!
like I saw a centaur
in a mythology of lust
diminished from her birth, my
aunt’s physical realities overwhelmed
and puzzled me – she was solid,
fleshy, slow, with wandering eyes,
wore short white anklets, dark
brown hair, demurely cut – she
could knit, care for chickens,
write her name, rock in
her chair, get into trouble,
pray, make promises, and die
inspiring woman, she enlivened my
childhood with her big family,
adventurous spirit, and new age
ideas before it was the
new age – she was post
Vatican II, now journeys past
Catholicism, a lively grandma who
wrote a book about her Baltimore
girlhood, first communion outfit
featured frilly on the cover