I would not let go
of this thesaurus
I’ve had since 1962.
Its yellowed pages,
loosened from the spine,
her pre-kindergarten
scribbles, in ink.
I was a permissive mother.
Page 196 headed by iridescent.
she has had a go at irreligion.
Whoever heard of such a word.
Facing the J section,
the first letter of her name,
even after she changed it.
And on page 376: ugliness.
And the back flap,
but not the front
where I wrote my name
in green ink,
just as I do now.
A name I never liked,
and haven’t used in decades.

3/7/07