my mother & father lie in the dark of their room,
she tells him how he's getting so old.
she helps him carry red wine through
the doors, over the tiles, into
mouths which spill lies.

oh, but she is tethered here
by her whims, by her vagaries
which pull strings taught
but never cut or fly.

she will never relent.
she has cast the spells
which keep us here.

she is in my every atom.