but it happens

my mother

would often say, don't put

me in a home,

when the time

comes.

let me stay here.

stay with my parakeet,

my sewing

machine,

my plants in the window.

the puzzle unfinished

on the table.

don't put

me with a bunch of strangers.

alone

in a room.

promise me,

she'd say, looking

into our eyes.

promise me.

but it happens.