mousie

And that newyears that

A baby shrew (or something)

Fell out of the thatch and

We adopted it.

All five of us, littlemothers

 holding

It under out shirts,

To keep it warm. Take turns

With three hour feedings

With

Five mothers, it should have

Had a chance. Thissimple

Thing we could do. Body heat

And eyedropfeeds,

But there were things that had happened

Before we couldnot fix and

We couldn’t fix the inner workings

And you buried (you, fragile

Hands, fragile ribs, strongpulled

Mouth) him, wrapped

In a leaf, on a South Coast Beach.

(this simple thing)