History Textbook, America

I'd search for Philippines in History class.

The index named one page, moved on to Pierce.

The Making of America marched past

my enigmatic father's place of birth.

The week he died some man we didn't know

called up. This is his brother, one more shock,

phoning for him. "He died three days ago."

The leaden black receiver did not talk.

My uncle never gave his name or town,

we never heard from him. Was it a dream?

The earpiece roar dissolved to crackling sounds,

a dial tone erased the Philippines.

And yet my world grows huge with maps, crisscrossed,

my History alive with all I've lost.

Source: Words for House Story (WordTech Communications, 2013)