THE IMAGE SURPRISES
Great-grandmother with nightwater black hair
braided down her back
Aunt who learned at her mother’s funeral
the Native tribes we descended from now losing
photons of her brain to dementia
Blood isn’t culture—
If it were, I’d know how to prepare
a Polish New Year’s feast:
a lucky silver fish
My other great-grandmother donated her body
to science in Detroit Returned in 1987
an urn we kept in the closet
beside the board games
Whenever I stole inside for hide-and-seek,
or a blanket, I whispered hello
Lots of people think I only have
two sisters. But there’s a third—
I used to joke I’m not gay my girlfriend is
Until my sister boycotted my wedding