He had a new wife (had he divorced mother?) 
       and was eating roast duck when I knocked

        Daughter, who is this man?
when Father said those words the air got wet

         good-wife-makes-good-husband, he said
  stem-stitch, scotch-stitch . . . I felt nothing but shame



       Let me not see the death of my child.
   Let me not . . . where is it written all prayers are answered?

     Noah sent off a white dove and she 
                                            returned no more

  For the first time in my marriage
        that bottomless cup of husband
                              I said "Will" and "Won't"


    Peeling vegetables for dinner, I killed
          the feeling in my thumb

      Stain does not remove as easily as skin

    I worked to the zik, zik of the blade
      and nothing but the dripping sink

        I counted blessings like pearl potatoes
      watching the moon            cool and clean


    I could not believe how bounty sprung from sand