TREMORS

I don't know why you keep coming,
you people who knew me
when I was someone else.
All my life I never
meant to be that girl.
Would I have chosen sheep's hair,
those fat legs?

Isn't my face
pale now?  Aren't my tracks,
my fingerprints new?  Say-
I don't draw eyes anymore,
don't eat jellied crackers
on bread, have no secret
incantations.

Now I grow okra for pickling,
wear sensible underwear,
my doorbell just goes ding
dong.  Go away,
you don't know me anymore.


			Lucille Murphy