When mother ceased breathing,
I unhinged her mouth,
pressed down her tongue

 and listened for wheezing.
I lowered in my head,
crawled down her throat,

into her esophagus and stomach,
so I could squeeze her lungs.
I brushed across rib bone

carvings which once suggested
escape but now hinted conspiracy –
The released survive.

I burrowed in her.
I heard a slam and dirt fall.
Again, I scratched her bones.

Tom Holmes founded Redactions: Poetry & Poetics, and authored Material Matters and The Cave, which won The Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Book Award for 2013. His writings can be found at The Line Break: thelinebreak.wordpress.com/.