My Mother in the Hospital, and my Father

Jennifer L Freed is the author of When Light Shifts, a finalist for the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize.

Learn more at Jfreed.weebly.com

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My Mother in the Hospital, and my Father—

                    like the cat we took in

from the cold—scarred, half blind,

quick skitter and claw—

suddenly on the counter

when my back is turned, stealing

Thanksgiving turkey, then

beneath my heel as I step from the stove.

Warm gravy splatters the floor, my clothes. 

I want to scream.

I want to put him out, or lock him in an upstairs room.

And yet

he cannot help what he does

not understand.

I scratch his broken ears, stroke his spine.

I am afraid

of how hard it grows to forgive

his wiry hiss,

his purr

as he fattens on all I have dropped.   

Jennifer L Freed is the author of When Light Shifts, a finalist for the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize.

Learn more at Jfreed.weebly.com

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