Our Family Closet by Joan McNerney

is full of cracked

skulls beginning

with nancy

“mother’s never

going to be

sick again—

see her steady hands”

cured twenty times

or take

longislandexpressway

aunt edna

shock treatment

in doctor’s

split level office

cruel irish grandfather

another lunatic

who chose

farming over teaching

tripling size

of fingers

don’t forget

uncle alcohol

plus patriot sister

with american eagle

in living room

& prison record

none of them will

ever speak of

secret secrets

exposed

add a couple

of 40-year-old

virgins & go

clear off a shelf

for me too.