Suddenly last summer
a lady in a cage elevator
descended to the tropical garden
within her home,
her son gone, consumed,
while she mistook
the psychiatrist for him.

Suddenly last summer
a lady in a cage elevator
descended to the sweltering jungle
within her home,
her son gone, repulsed,
while she mistook
the intruder for him.

JOHN J. TRAUSE, Director of Oradell Public Library, is the author of six books of poetry and one of parody, Latter-Day Litany, the latter staged Off Broadway.  His translations, poetry, fiction, and visual arts appear in many journals and anthologies internationally, including Poetrybay.  He is a founder of the William Carlos Williams Poetry Cooperative (The Red Wheelbarrow) in Rutherford, N. J., and the former host and curator of its monthly reading series