An Early Morning with Subtitles

A daughter lost a foot in her
sleep as a distant train was no
longer distant but was whistling
through her philosophy and her flesh.

A mother put away a lawn
mower after losing a husband in
an all-night poker game with
wild cards raining down like leaves.

An Indian chief with a bad case of
irony whittled down an English
sonnet to a blistering haiku in
the early morning hours of betrayal.