a century’s wisdom locked beneath wrinkled imparted silence,
weakened limbs encased bleak organs,
encased in cold metal bed,
bed pans, sponge baths, motorized assumptions
ambivalence inducing pills suppressing hard-won ideals,
styled in discrimination—
but i was almost too young to not forgive
your sticky whiskers, strawberry jam,
measuring my growth spurts with your great-grandfather paws,
clenched beneath my chin,
powder blue linen table cloth covered
in thick plastic
to protect—
what from whom?
i could sing ‘twinkle, twinkle’ on the rotary
in the dining room,
watching beige striped wallpaper
peel, at first above
and then below
my sightline
every night there was a phone call from my father,
and following a lean over
into the sacred
brown, corduroy
throne
from here you dictated how many bran muffins,
elucidated agassi’s technique,
questioned why anyone would already need
to buy a vowel
sought after consolation
actualizes once repression
lifts—
acceptance
breathes past the wheeze,
still echoing in younger ears.