NaPM April 17, 2017

[nibbed]

Golden Girls
 
The little one
on the couch with the doll
is Gretchen.
 
She speaks
only German
and has no family
here.
 
For her, the clamour
is loudest;
 
she is feeling through the dark
for her own tongue—
 
to find footing—
 
but none is found
so her dementia accelerates.
 
The big one
in the chair, the one who looks like Maude
is Victoria.
 
She screams out loud
every 40 seconds
as if she’s about to be hit by a train.
 
Sometimes I pray
she isn’t reliving
some sordid
childhood trauma
on such a short loop.
 
My mother
is mostly okay.
 
She still dances
when Elvis is played
and swears
she has ribbons
somewhere.
 
She remembers Patrick Swayze
but forgets how he died.
 
Every week she reminds me
of how his mother was a ballerina.

Hi Tiger the Lion,


I enjoyed this!
thank you for the read <3