They told her sorry

Nothing left to do

We’re sorry

Get your affairs in order

Maybe hospice and nice pillows

And Chinese herbs

 

Two rounds of chemo

Don’t give into the cancer

Be brave

Spent her days smoking dope

Watching lifestyle shows

Yoga made her puke

 

Two daughters—one in LA

Who came for holidays

Ambivalently–

The other one (the one she lived with)

Left lots of notes on the table

“I’ll be home late.”

 

Her grandson, the only one

Was like sunlight

Cheerful, bright

He’d say Hi Grandma

She’d say yes I am

And they would laugh

 

Cooking for him

Was how she showed love

Spaghetti

The smell was nauseating

His appetite was gratifying

She had a purpose

 

In daydreams of death

She had few worries

Except him

He was picked on mercilessly

Sometimes beaten

A frequent target

 

When I am not here

Who will protect him

Love him

He may not know it

But he needs me

Even if I’m a sick old lady

 

A cut above his left eye

The damage from Slayden McGurk

Playground tyrant

Who breeds such evil

She intended to find out

A sick old lady indeed

 

She looked him up

On the class photo

Slayden McGurk

With the red hair and freckles

And gap-toothed grin

Already a sociopath

 

Her license was suspended

She didn’t go out much

Shut in

Followed him on his bike

A quiet neighborhood lots of trees

Nobody heard the crash

 

Sprawled on the pavement

Moaning writhing clutching his side

Are you okay

I’m sorry can I call someone

He gave up his cell phone

And then she bludgeoned him again

 

I didn’t lose the battle with cancer

No other choice but to survive

I am strong

Maybe my days are numbered

I can still drag a 12-year-old boy

Into the car and down to the basement

 

Tending to his wounds

Taping his mouth shut

Secrets kept

Do you like spaghetti

I’ll fix you something to eat

But only when no one is home

 

Slayden McGurk was in the news

A twisted bike frame was found

Missing boy

Her daughter was oblivious

Her grandson mentioned it at dinner

And then went to play video games

 

What do you want

Let me go you crazy old bitch

Such disrespect

All you have to do is apologize

For what for what I didn’t do anything

She lit a joint and observed him

 

Four days and nights passed

The boy began to stink

Incontinence

Just say you are sorry that’s all

Her strength was waning

It is hard to fight the battle

 

A sunny crisp Friday morning

When she broke through

The boy sobbed

Asking for his mother

She held him stroking his matted hair

He needed to be loved

 

Her grandson found them

The old woman cradling the boy

Hands bound

The boys looked at each other

And at the dead woman, knowing

She’d found her purpose

©Anthony Weeks 2017