It was the tail of summer
The sun tasted like jasmine
The air ablush with the smell of
Long afternoons spent by the pool
Your uncle was nine
& asked your grandmother with
The index finger pointed to the sky
Like this one finger could pause
The Earth and switch off the sun
He asked her
Why do people have to die
My mother looked at him
With eyes like open arms
She took his finger with both hands
So the world could resume spinning & whispered
There are questions that only exist
To be asked
Never answered
Your uncle looked at the answer shining
Through this powerful delicate woman
He raised his finger at her this time
Then at himself
& leapt back in the pool
My mother returned to her magazine
Me to my inflatable fish
& one of the great lessons
Came and went in the jasmine sun
Of a summer long long ago