she was never happier

after seven

kids

and a few miscarriages,

and a cheating

husband

who beat her,

my mother

went off the deep

end

and they put her in

St. Elizabeth's mental

institution.

she finally

got the vacation she

never had.

i'd never seen her

happier,

than when she was in

there.

relaxed and smiling

with hands folded

in her lap,

enjoying

her room with a view

of the grand 

yard, green and full

of trees,

fenced in from the sane.