Cousin, my cousin MBT, 1927-2007.

  Mom's first cousin,
  a mom herself,
  partnered with another woman
  for thirty-plus years,
  two Wisconsin snowbirds,
  settled near Phoenix,
  Arizona trailer.

  I envied the hummingbirds
  who fed from feeders
  lining their kitchen window.

  There in the desert was a living link
  to Mother's homeland,
  my own serrated roots: an accent,
  a diction--"daven" for sofa,
  "pop" for soda--a Midwestern welcome
  with hide-a-bed, strong coffee, comfort food
  & a way to love that resembled my own,
  with manly modifications,
  enough to seal a bond
  I hadn't known existed.