Lullabies of Elsewhere

That’s what Mom wants

carved on her stone.

When did she first realize

there was an Elsewhere,

and that she was in it?

What baby songs did she

sing from wherever she was

down to me in my crib?

The lullabies of   Elsewhere.

On birthdays

she filled little flowerpots

with chocolate ice cream

and a real zinnia,

chocolate jimmies for dirt.

I tasted the cold chocolate,

I opened the gifts.

If  they were real, I was real.

I was in the Elsewhere too.