there is no reason to expect
that todays state of affairs
would be any different
had history been changed
in some way or other

of course, the big picture
magnifies the small lies
inside each and every one

we moved away shortly after
my fathers death and within
a year my mother came to visit
we saw some sights
and spent time talking
while sitting outdoors
on fair September evenings
while in the kitchen
whipping up a ragu
I felt the burn of her stare
as I coursed back and forth
slowly realizing that I was now
the closest thing she had to her husband
my reach then extended
to the afterworld