Dorothy

I am four leaving
Northern Louisiana
For Southern Illinois
I am in tears over some
Child’s outrage and I now
Remember a woman’s voice
Comforting me saying softly,
“It’s a hard ... hard world
Stevie-Dan ...” a short
Nickname of Stephen
Daniel a Custom in
The Deep South
Where life was
Hard in the
Mid to late
1940s my
Six siblings
I grew up with
As well as the six
Or so siblings who
Did not survive to
Full term though
Only my two
Elder sisters were
Aware of my mother’s
Miscarriages which
Makes me wonder
How my mother
Lived as the
Dorothy
Parker of
Shreveport
In a Protestant
Family home
Downriver
Far from
A bagel
Or her
Yiddish
Heritage.