JURY NOTICE

by Mary K O'Melveny

It came in yesterday,

along with the bills, junk

mail and money requests.

The US District Court

wants to find my Mother.

A Summons for service.

She has dates and numbers.

#03-0723.

Responsibilities.

Questionnaires to fill out.

History to report.

It’s all quite serious.

There are some exceptions,

of course:  infirmity,

age, disability,

volunteer safety jobs,

among others.  One time,

just “female” was enough.

She always wanted this.

Once, she almost made it

but the case got settled.

Another time she had

moved away but she tried

willing herself back there.

She had many questions

about this curious

institution where a

fate can lie in your hands.

The raw power of it –

breathtaking.

Sudden elevation

from the quotidian

to the omnipotent.

Her simple life was filled

with the usual moments,

children, meals and paychecks.

  

The very idea that

her opinions might be

important to someone

outside her sphere

brought a little chill up,

hairs on the neck rising.

The transformational

thought of it all – strangers

suddenly privy to

far away dramas and demons

landing right in their midst,

as if by time machine.

And, as the story lines

unfold like mystery

novels, piecing the clues

together, staring at

the witness box, waiting

for the Perry Mason

denouement.  This would be

The People’s Court with real

people!  The blending and

bonding, weighing, sifting,

verdict emerging like

Botticelli’s Venus.

So, I am glad for the

official interest

in finding my Mother.

She’s been gone four years now.

But I would love to see

her there.  Oath taken.  Not excused.

* * * * *

Mary K O'Melveny is a retired labor rights lawyer living in Washington DC and Woodstock NY.  Her poems have been published in various print and on-line journals such as FLARE:  The Flagler Review, Into the Void, Allegro Poetry Magazine and The Offbeat.  Mary's poem "Cease Fire" won the 2017 Raynes Poetry Competition sponsored by Jewish Currents magazine and appears in the anthology "Borders and Boundaries" published by Blue Threads Press.