Sonnet 7

Once I get it I get it like gangbusters but at first I knew I lacked

an internal GPS to tell me where I was and how I got here

in the first place I had to ferret out the window the telescope 

the tuning fork the microscope the altarcloth the margins around 

the living room I walked in circles in to the music and not 

to the music I remember my mother's saying, "Oh my poor baby, 

you're just like me" as I cried at the holiday lullaby that said 

"The little lord Jesus lay down his sweet head" and ever since 

I've been there walking around the white fluff rug she would shake 

out in the yard I remained bounded by walking the perimeter 

it still takes me a long time to learn the ropes and not to 

skip to my lou because there are many more nautical

miles to go before all this grows too steep when I'm learning

the finer points become the bane of working my fingers to the bone