So Beat Me with a Stick Fred

So Beat Me With A Stick Fred

I see

unpalatable perfection

purple prose,

in the radiant face of my mother, nature.

And when I feel too much

of love and death,

when my demons need exorcising,

I go to the Devil's Den

and find my mother

who hears me cry

and answers my questions.

-Nancy Boudreau, from "N" book of poetry, 1998