Through the fifth floor window

of my mother's ward

in the Sacred Heart Home

I watch dark, ominous crows

glide in and out

        of nowhere

hover just outside

        watching us.

A dying sun paints the harbour

city lights "pop" like time-lapse mushrooms.

I remember worrying, six years old
 
wondering what lurked in the coal black corners

disturbed the dust bunnies under me.
 
When I could not bear the dread

I would call her and she would come.

I call her now dreading the dark shades in the dusky sky

she smiles

        looks

wonders who I am.

Copyright © 1996 Hugh MacDonald
Used with permisson of the author.
From Looking for Mother, by Hugh MacDonald.
Windsor, Ontario, Canada: Black Moss Press, 1995.
(Dist. by Firefly Books, Ltd. Sparks Ave., Willowdale, Ontario M2H2S4
ISBN 0-88753-259-4 ISBN 0-88753-255-1 $14.95)
Email Hugh at hughmac@cycor.ca
Hugh's Home Address:
Hollow Pine Cottage, Robertson Road,
Montague RR#5 PEI Canada, C0A 1R0