taken off guard by the protruding
tusk of a small mastodon, Emma
is always surprised at
the objects she finds during
her parents mysterious absences
the demons who threaten
to escape from dark corners
the pile of serpents slithering out
of the basket in the laundry room
the blank eyed browless
black doll crumpled up
in her armoire beneath the dress
she was forced to wear
when her father’s mother died
a funeral rite she never understood
the sporting of dark colours