Mother balances the vibrating fork
upon the piano lid.
Plays the spaces between
the keys with long fingers
stained with drying blood.
White noise and black notes
are the sounds she cherishes most
in this life.
Alan Catlin has been publishing for the better parts of six decades. He has published dozens of chapbooks and full-length books including: Asylum Garden: after Van Gogh (Dos Madres) and Visiting Day on the Psychiatric Ward (Pudding Publications).
