Screams and blood in mid-night deliveries,
 gift to us,
Burnt chicken dinners in small Bronx kitchen,
 gift to us,
Beds made up, a thousand times re-made,
 gift to us,
Sleep lost forever in sick bed vigils,
 gift to us,
Myriad lunches of creamcheese and jelly,
 gift to us,
Spellbinding stories over late-night tables,
 gift to us,
Rip-tides of laughter, holding our stomaches,
 gift to us,
Crazy dances, life irrepressible,
 gift to us,
Wholly impractical, passions ungovernable,
 gift to us,
Great storehouse of words and tempers and feelings,
 gift to us,
Verses demanding artful expression,
 gift to us,
Ruth our mother, daughter of Sarah,
 gift to us,
 gift to us,
        forever
 gift to us.

June 1989