After discovering the Internet,
my mother has trouble
finding a connection, and
calls me up for help
while I am at work.
We keep miscommunicating.

She has clicked open
so many windows
the computer threatens to hang.
And my logic runs out
of variations to explain
the same thing over
and over. Suddenly,

I imagine she is looking
for her future through
that glowing screen
and I am really helping her

to find back her life after
all her children have left
for new homes,
new families to love.
‘What now?’ she asks.

'Try again,’ I reply, the phone
pressed to my ear. 'Close all
the windows. Tell me —
what do you see?’