Summary

A woman begins the morning by assessing her mother's mood through her reaction to breakfast toast. They are off to visit her father who has dementia and no memory of his past as a war hero, or of his present as husband and parent. Yet a fleeting smile suggests that, on some level, unbeknownst to him and inaccessible to them, remain shreds of the same person.

Commentary

A poignant, free verse exploration of identity, emotion, memory, and its loss, set within the boundaries of the rocky terrain governed by parents and their adult child.

Miscellaneous

The poem is on pages 21-27, in the section, "The Glass Essay."

Primary Source

Glass Irony and God

Publisher

New Directions

Place Published

New York

Edition

1995

Page Count

7