Mom puts the plate
in front of me
but I am too hungry
for biscuits
to see her
as anything
but the bringer of food
the washer
the dryer
the back of the house
whether she smiles
as she pours
the coffee or gravy
or turns to cry
I never see her
wipe her hands
hang the towels
exhale with a sigh
too much on her plate
till lunch
A Minister and his wife
ironically named Young
sold 1930’s babies
from the Ideal Maternity Home
while the unwanted ones
were staved
on molasses and water
and they lay to rest
those butterbox babies
in wooden crates
from the local dairy
used as coffins
and hundreds
of backfield mounds
were born
on the backs
of weeping women
who unknowingly fed
the notorious couple’s
voracious appetite
for bread.