The sun is bright on the morning
my mom tells me she’s taking Daddy
to the doctor for some tests.
It’s a Tuesday and I’m putting my lunch together
peanut butter and banana sandwich,
apple, fruit snacks, cookies.
My mom takes the cookies out, says After school.
When she turns her back,
I put them in my bag again.
What kind of tests?
For the headaches. She looks out the kitchen window.
And the memory stuff.
Guess they want to rule out dementia. I don’t know.
There’s a cardinal at the bird feeder,
then a sparrow comes and a yellow warbler.
When I was a little kid, I used to say What’s that and What’s that
and What’s that and my dad would tell me
the names of the birds.
When I asked him if they would survive
the winter, he’d always say
Of course they will. Mother Nature’s got their backs.
Now I want to ask again, say What’s that
only not about birds this time.
What I really want to ask is
Are the doctors gonna make him better?
and hear my mother say
Of course, ZJ. Mother Nature’s got his back.