out of everyone’s way and make no demands whatsoever 

on anyone, and if you ask her what she’d like to eat 

for lunch, or what she wants to do after lunch, 

she only whispers, ‘Whatever you have left over. 

Don’t fix anything special for me. A piece of bread 

is more than good enough. Whatever you have extra of. 

Water is fine. If you want to go someplace after lunch, 

I can just sit here and look out the window. I’m happy. 

It’s fine with me. Make it easy on yourself. I’m quite 

content to look at an old magazine and listen to the radio. 

I don’t need anybody to entertain me. You go do whatever 

you like and just pretend I’m not here.’ Her visits place 

a huge weight on our household. The weight of meekness. 

Aunt Doe is sort of the Billy the Kid of meekness, 

a professional meeker, she has out-meeked the best 

of them, she can meek you to death.”