I tumbled down the street
On a tricycle, very fast,
I coulda kept going
And wound up in the river,
-Or across the trolley tracks
And got cobble mashed
And all smashed so that later on
I cant have grit dreams
Of Lakeview Avenue,
And see my father die,
Had I died at two –
But I saw my father die,
I saw my brother die,
I saw my mother die
my mother my mother my mother
inside me –
Saw the pear trees die,
the grapes, pearls, penny trees –
Saw little white collar girl
with little black dress
And spots of rose on each cheek,
die, in her glasses
In a coffin.
But I raced my bicycle safety.