Aunt Katy
or Catherine as she prefers
but nobody calls her that
sulks in the big gold

chair while Aunt Ruth
chatters about her days
with Warren who left her
for his secretary but
years before they lived
in style in Highland Park

Katy won't smile
politely
having lived
on a Wisconsin farm
with a man
who preferred his mother

she has only
the gold
chair's arm
and a silence
that could set
a fire.