Mother In Disguise Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Mother in disguise
Two days old she was attending
her mother`s funeral
pictures were taken when
she sees them she will be proud and sad
she will be proud and sad
I did not attend my mother`s
she died day before Christmas
hurriedly buried the diggers
wanted the day off
when I got the on a plane
it was too late I didn`t leave
A small woman
Her bones must be tiny
Her skull big and empty
it has nothing to tell
So long ago
The woman I remember
has been reinvented
so many times
she was pygmy gave
me to a Swedish missionary
who soaked me in bleach for
a week I`m so white need
no flashlight
I cannot remember the real one
But she is in here somewhere.