When Mother Dies - Song Lines She rises in a hot air balloon, until, with a wave, she cuts the umbilical cord, and tosses the ballast away. Her flight is begun. I walk the inner song lines now, create the land with my song, like the Australian Aboriginals. I spin her absence on a lathe like clay, tune the space with the beat of a drum. My heartbeat, my pulse, like a bird on the beach, tattoos where I walk, impregnates what speaks.