David, the king of the castle,
also known as Maxwell Manor,
had stayed for me.
He was as Rhett Butler
as I was Bonnie Blue,
& the torch he carried
was not for me,
but for my flag.

For her,
he’d bought a mink coat,
for me,
a stole.
Now he would buy her a diamond,
whereas I would have my own room
in his house.
If diamonds were forever,
were rooms forevermore?

Mother put her mark on David’s house,
just as the devil put the mark of the beast
on his unholy temples.

Y2K parties,
like hurricane parties,
were being held that New Year’s Eve
before the New Millennium,
& I saw this turning of time
as a turning of the tide.

For the Mormons,
the husband was the head of the home,
the wife,
the heart,
& I wondered what happened
to the body that was the family
when the head stopped thinking
& the heart stopped beating.