Ilona Martonfi’s most recent poem to appear here was “Louisiana Bayou” (May 2016) 

The yellow house
By Ilona Martonfi

Will you give her back?

Clumps of cedar against blue
irises pink and purple
the yellow house
painted with dull, grey colours
the years she disappeared

you know, I cannot bring her home
regular habits, order in her life
resident in adult foster care
psychiatric outpatient
eldest daughter
under public curator protection
suffering from melancholia.
Can she sleep well?
How can I not think about her?

Chronic lung sarcoidosis
crackles, wheezing

says: I don’t belong here,
there is no privacy.
Black chalk, boar bristle brushes
hoarding possessions:
rag dolls, CD racks,
dust-laden radio songs
repetitive circle patterns
oil on gessoed canvas.
Memory keeper
of her three children
who grew up without their mother

clumps of cedar against blue
irises pink and purple

I must make her whole again.
I must find her smile.