(To my mother who could not love me)

 

I was the best

daughter-slave,

but she snubbed me.

 

I was the yearning

one, and she turned

to me for

comfort when

 

I was eight.

 

She was the

beautiful one,

breathing her

Salem smoke

into the Summer

air,

commanding me

to work

faster.

 

After years of cruelty,

she

said, “You

are my only

joy in life.”

 

I said, “I

don’t believe

you.”

It was the only time I

had the courage to

speak

 

the truth.

 

About the Poet

Professor Brandler  appears in Who’s Who, author of four books.