Today's poem is by Tanya Larkin

The Sign Said
       

IF YOU CAN PREPARE FOR A BIRTHDAY PARTY
YOU CAN PREPARE FOR A NATURAL DISASTER.

My mother, believing there was little difference,
could never bring herself to prepare.

Under skies picked clean
of every cloud (as if she done it herself) she liked to say yes but
it is raining in my hip, storming in the socket.

Such was the identification.

Now, whenever her birthday rolls around, she leaves the country
for one where no one can remind her
of the devastations of age.

My sisters and I prepare but know preparing isn't enough.
It's not enough to throw the party in the midst of disaster.
You must throw disaster a party. You must say little hurricane, I'm so proud
as it tears through the house and leaves you roofless
with three kinds of mold to address.

You can navigate the darkness of the hallway with a single flame.
Let it have at the cake without making a wish.
Mother, mother—there's no time. There's no time
to want anything. Come back.

Copyright © 2024 Tanya Larkin All rights reserved
from Conduit
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission