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My mother was-- both my
parents were epileptic.

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My mother had
grand mal seizures,

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and my father had
petit mal seizures.

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Both my parents
had brain tumors,

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and my mother felt
that her brain tumor

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was a result of her being--

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she died at 44,
mind you, and she

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was celibate for the last
20 years of her life.

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And this is "the message
of thelma sayles."

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"Baby, my only
husband turned away.

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For 20 years, my door was open.

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Nobody ever came.

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The first fit broke my bed.

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I woke from ecstasy to
ask what blood is this?

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Am I the bride of Christ?

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My bitten tongue was
swollen for three days.

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I thrashed and rolled
from fit to death.

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You are my only daughter.

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When you lie awake
in the evenings,

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counting your birthdays,
turn the blood

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that clots on your
tongue into poems.

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Poems."

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