Sullen Mother

an erasure of a passage from Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's Odyssey

by SOPHIA STOLKEY

Sullen                                 Mother,
you must not
                                                  sing.



                                          You must
                             always praise
                              and listen to
                             the        one
who did not come back.
                   lost.                do your work.

                 chores as well.


          startled                      room,
                             uneasy                heart.
She went upstairs
and wept          for       dear
                                           sweet sleep.