My Mother

my mother
elsa
her mother called her
grace
from the family osteros
it said
a norwegian castaway
even forgot to baptize her
she was available for 50 dollars
cash
it was 1915
but it wasn’t mississippi or georgia
but minnesota
the “minnesota state school” they called it
and the man
whom i thought was my grandfather
bought a two year old child
indentured they said she was
he signed the paper
he would
keep her till she was 18
provide for her
treat her “properly and kindly”
give her “two good suits of clothes”
train her up in occupation that was
“something useful”
he could cancel at any time
just prorate the 50 dollars
send her back at his expense
my mother never knew until her
wedding day
she was not that man’s daughter
and so now
decades have passed
and i have come to
understand
when the man died
she was just another
piece of property
and my ‘mor-mor?’
the man’s wife
i remember her
from that family
i thought was mine
those fuzzy faded pictures
a large kindly looking woman
smiling
holding me
a slave-owners wife?
did she really love us?
it’s been over 70 years now
and i still don’t know.