It’s dawn at my mother’s house.  
I am up very, very early.
I am standing at the sliding door to the dining room
I see a big yellow land mover outside. 
I slide the door open, lean out.

Our dog Maddie slips out the door and begins running 
on my left I see a palomino horse and a yellow lab
They are sprinting, joyfully, across the back yard
Maddie looks excited to run with them
but I am afraid for her

The man with the land mover comes to life as I watch
“I am here to unearth the troubles of this house,”
he tells me.
“Your father, while well-intentioned,
did not know how to raise daughters.”

“No one raised him,” I say.

I think of his parents, utterly traumatized by Cossacks
How do you parent when you are trying to stay alive in America?

The earth in the backyard is turned
What was buried is exposed to the sunlight
What was shameful can’t bear the light of day.
Let the ancestors out of the ground

Breathe!!