ACCOUNT OF MY DAYS
Sequence: 7
MY BED
my grandma's blind stroking of the table
with the damp cloth while the other hand
kept track of what had and had not yet
been wiped and how she kept the things she needed
in the same place always so memory
and touch could work without the help of eyes
her son or neighbors checked the cabinets
before they went to town so she never worried
about that and for a long while
she could see and bend well enough
to keep some flowers going by the back steps
when she finally had to go she had
enough time to get us each to come
and take any of her things we wanted
for what was not passed on was given away
she stood at the door while I loaded my share and asked
if I was sure I had all I needed
and told me to remember that that old
bed had been in her mother's guest room
and was also used for birthing all
nine times which I thought but didn't
say made her and all her brothers and sisters
and now me guests