Alice Isak demonstrates the power of brevity in this hard-hitting poem about mothers, daughters, and their burdens.
—
King of Pentacles
The night my mother drank chardonnay until 4 am in a friend’s kitchen
looking for a third answer to the question
stay or go
I too sat in a kitchen
cradling my father in my arms and praying
hail Mary full of grace—someday
let her mail me the map
for leaving.
***
Alice Isak’s work has appeared on our site before. Read her moving and eye-opening “The Octogenarian Asks the Feminist Sex Educator.”
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