Contents -- Part I. The Undertaker's Daughter -- I am not afraid to be memoir -- Burial sites -- The undertaker's daughter -- Sunday afternoons at Claire Carlyle's -- For my unnamed brother (1943-1943) -- Dolls -- Part II. A Memory of the Future -- I see my father after his death -- My dad & sardinesmy dad's going to give me a -- My dad & sardines -- On a picture of the Buddhist monk Pema Chödrön -- On the revolution of the Jersey cows -- The new pet -- The Telly Cycle -- For Telly the fish -- Special ears -- Another poem of a small grieving for my fish Telly -- On the reasons I loved Telly the fish -- Because I was good to Telly in his life, -- An apology to Telly the revolutionary -- When the goddess makes love to me, -- Untitled -- The night I stopped singing like Billie Holiday -- When I touched her -- The iris and chicken fat -- Lighting the tulips -- Gershwin -- A little prayer to Our Lady -- To a cruel lover -- Cherry blossoms -- How Craig Foster enabled me to write the poems I'm writing now & gave me this voice -- Part III. The Undertaking -- The exigencies of form -- The undertaking -- Acknowledgments.