And clawed and hacked at everything she hated
about herself.
My original ultimate authority: my mother
a woman who does not know who she is
I remember her being so tall and powerful
In the kitchen opening the refrigerator on Kaines street
A cold box with rounded corners and the brand in cursive
as I passed by through the garage where there
were mice the cat wouldn't catch she was furious and
I was scared about what she would do to the cat
So I went out into the overgrown yard, and made a little maze
I flattened down the long grass leaves and sat, protected
from her rage in the warm Berkeley sun
a rage to venomous and frightening I thought
it would **** me, or the cat, so I mustn't get too attached
to the cat because she may just vanish suddenly
and my mother is just an older woman now
but her ghost, lives on
my bosses, the authorities of my adult hell
scare me as only she could
But they are not her ghosts
No one will ever have such power again