Poem For My Mother

The fire in Daytona Has changed everything now And pauline is finally gone Farther away this time than than the lighthouse at Ponce Inlet Or the locked ward at County General And the only perspective that I can find Is that even in her own naivety she was determined To have things her own way in the end And yet death is a way of gambling too That doesn't always guarantee an integration of one's soul If there is a lesson in our mother's passing over like she did It might be that love itself is inadequate at times No matter how the loved ones try Or that self-fulfilling prophecies can be as dangerous As they can be beautiful and grand