When I Was a Mother

Hudson Review, The, Spring 2002 by Rhodenbaugh, Suzanne

Our laughter could be heard all the way

up on Carroll Avenue in the summertime.

Fireflies hovered out over the deep green

of a dangerous dark I was safe from.

Often I'd lose track of time.

When the wind grew sharp and the lawn greens faded

the whole family constellation came inside.

I then closed off the cold back room,

the place for history, everything storied

which fit nowhere else, the clock that'd

never worked but had a lovely pewter face

and things from when

my waist was small-the sheath

hung in the back room closet

lit by the pale green flickering fluorescent.

SUZANNE RHODENBAUGH's collection Lick of Sense was

published by Helicon Nine Editions in 2001. She lives in St. Louis ....