when an F-hole
might have been confused
with an S descending

near the end
of happiness

before minor key
tunes played on a fiddle
got recorded or written down

after the U
in colour fell

on an uncleared trail
in the Berkshires
and the O and R refused

to rescue it
during Noah Webster’s lifetime

and I will never forget
those walks inside
the Grove Street Cemetery

will always wonder
what story antedates the mystery
of A Mother’s Grave