Marcella Haws

Dad, the doctor, says she's hunched with osteoporosis--
     Carries her pail of browns and whites across County T.
She stokes a fire for a batch of baking powder biscuits,
A roast and pot of coffee for her bachelor boys
     And dad, the neighbor, come for eggs.

Roger and Ronnie Haws

She can barely see above the dashboard as she rides
Between the two who bicker over the five-cow farm—
     A mutt herd—Hereford, Holstein and Jersey. 
These two, more helpless than their mother,
They call dad to set Ronnie's broken leg,
     Cut the dead elms, and put down a crippled cow.

The Hawses

A year back, neighbors cut down and took their trees:
50-, 100-, 200-year-old oaks worth more than a lifetime. 
      Dad said the boys didn't know what to do.
Today, he got a call that Marcella complained of a pain,
Ronnie asked her if she wanted to see the doctor,
      she said no and slumped into her chair.
"That's the way she wanted it: home with the boys,
Not a nursing home or hospital, no doctor," dad said,
      "Natural?" I said.  "Yah, that's the word, natural."