Anna Pauline McAnally Couch
(15 February 1925—13 June 1983)
The day after red and white
And pink
It is the ides of February
My mother’s birthday
Pauline was born in 1925,
Died in 1983
Only in her fifties
Such is the ravaging of cancer
I wish she’d had a better life
She was a singer
I wish she could have sung more
A manager, I wish she could have
Run things more her way
I wish she’d had a partnership
Rather than passive and aggressive,
Which she enabled
And then both of them
Passed it on to me
Before the term
Before its time
I don’t remember the real name now
But she knew Doris Day
Before she was Day
My mother was a Southerner
But had no trace of accent
I’m not sure why
Except maybe it was cultured, then
Not to give away
The humble origins
And hers were humble
To the point of terrible
Orphaned of her father
Let go by her mother
Saved by Methodists somehow
I have the picturesque baptism paper
Moved or was moved
From small-town Tennessee to Cincinnati
Set in two states
(for all intents and purposes),
Both sides of the river
I was her middle child
Maybe it’s fair or at least
Mathematical that I should do
Some chronicling
On her behalf
On this, what would be
What is
Her ninety-fifth birthday
Born in Shelbyville, Tennessee
Died in Cincinnati, Ohio
Lives in heaven
C L Couch
Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash
she liked rabbits
Recent Comments