Here I am on the underside of the world,
downside up and still standing.
My mother, an intelligent woman, well read,
believed the earth was flat, or so she said.
She did, however, leave school earlier than usual,
so I couldn’t quite work out if she was joking.
She didn’t help her cause
by making her statement from behind a grin.
Perhaps it was her way of asking questions,
but nobody gave her answers.
She incurred the ridicule of her sophisticated family,
who thought it beneath them to try to convince her.
Not only am I on the underside of the world,
downside up and still standing,
but a travel agent has taken money
to get me home without retracing my steps.
When I get there I’ll have the proof I need,
but it’s too late to convince my mother.
She died knowing well the family was right,
but deep down she believed the earth was flat.