Lita, I waited years for this
my grandma died last night
by morphine drip
my grandma died years ago
when she forgot my name, my face
speaking to me only in spanish
maybe she died before that?
when they made me baby
and i accepted,
too weak with my little arms and
my soft, fearing mind
I became a stranger
afraid to confront that isolation
silence is complicity
she got to be baby in the nursing home
saw a photo of her smiling, coloring candles on a cake with crayon, age 96
i hope it was like a dream
i hope she never realized I saw her three times in four years
because i was afraid