He rifles through his dead mother’s papers—
A passport he had colored on in Crayola,
which made her shriek as she chased him
with a wooden hairbrush, his blood
streaking his polyester knit shirt.
Her first marriage license to his father
written in Spanish and registered in Caracas
before the New Tribes missionaries were
kicked out of the jungle and sent back
to their homes in America.
A birth certificate, a rite of baptism
on delicate paper, two divorce decrees—
a sullen vellum assemblage
of a woman’s life.
Mother—
his first undocumented country.
Janette Schafer is a realtor, poet, photographer, and singer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her writing and photographs have appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, and websites. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University. She is the author of three poetry collections.
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