Artwork: The Loss of Eurydice by Elsie Russell.
Artwork: The Loss of Eurydice by Elsie Russell.
Goodnight
1.
Paper lanterns, drops of blood.
Child on skinned knees
says a rosary.
2.
Lined pages fill her book.
Words spill over the edges
of tiny lines. A girl's diary
holds a life. Into the night,
she strains to see.
Scribbles blue secrets,
twists the brass key.
3.
In the next room,
her mother scrubs floors,
washes dishes, mends clothes.
Sobs seep through thin walls.
A broken glass. Slapped face.
A man bleeds a woman dry, yet
keeps smiling, shoves in his mouth
the next bite of supper.
4.
A trembling voice
whispers "Goodnight."
Bleeding fingers
tuck tattered quilt
under her child's chin.
Twisted tissue blots red tears.
A child watches her mother
and learns how to cry.
5.
Salt tears
furrow her stone face.
To travel this terrain
would take lifetimes.
About Jayne Offenbacker.
Artwork: The Loss of Eurydice by Elsie Russell.
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