Lena, Mary Liz, and Anna Mae
Marian, Naomi Rose
when time has stopped
where time has slowed
the horses wear the rain
Mary Liz, Anna Mae, Marian
Naomi Rose and Lena
the lanterns lit
at midday dark
pain’s processional
Anna Mae, Marian, Naomi Rose
Lena, Mary Liz
innocence has no
argument, justice
returns in a leaf
Naomi Rose, Lena, and Mary Liz
Anna Mae and Marian
a girl is not a kind of girl
she knows her rhyme
she has her name
Lena, Naomi Rose, and Mary Liz
Marian and Anna Mae
zinnias mixed with cosmos,
lupins caught
in hay
Mary Liz, Lena, and Anna Mae
Marian, Naomi Rose
someone had a newborn
calf that died into the light,
and someone knew the night
Anna Mae, Mary Liz, and Marian
Lena and Naomi Rose
someone knew the night
holiness mere meaning
when someone knew the night
Marian, Anna Mae, Naomi
Rose, Mary Liz and Lena
the mad put on death’s
mantle, the mad
on fire with shame
Naomi Rose, Marian and Lena
Anna Mae and Mary Liz
the mother of the god you knew
was reading in her chair
and down came interruption
Naomi Rose, Lena and Marian
Mary Liz and Anna Mae
down came endless care
visitation’s presence
bookmarked in a book
Anna Mae, Naomi Rose and
Mary Liz, Lena and Marian
your names in stone
your footprints kept
in mud between the stalks
Marian, Anna Mae and Lena
Naomi Rose and Mary Liz
iron bells toss
the clouds at dusk
and elders turn away
Mary Liz, Marian, Naomi
Rose, Anna Mae and Lena
empty-handed, hold their cups
with lead seams
supplicant
Lena, Mary Liz and Anna
Mae, Marian, Naomi Rose
a length of serge
so plain, so plain
the morning grass turned down
Anna Mae, Mary Liz and Marian
Lena, Naomi Rose
when time has stopped
where time has slowed
the horses wear the rain