THE VISIT
Brother Mike phoned: ‘You’d better take a plane –Ma hasn’t long.’ We did the four-hour drive in his car, edging towards each other.
Ma slowly opens her eyes: ‘Oh John’ she says (for the first time since childhood I am not just ‘Dear’) – as if I had been out of the room a couple of minutes only – ‘I’ve had this dream, I was in Holland and the canals were frozen over and people were skating.’ She leans towards the side of the bed where I am sitting, her loose hospital shift exposing one perfect brown nipple – the one time i have seen it since the unfocused gaze of my first days: ‘It was such a lovely dream.’
Sudden intimacy. Who is this person? I wonder.
THE VISIT
brother mike phoned
‘you’d better take a plane
ma hasn’t long’
we did the four-hour drive
in his car
edging towards each other
ma slowly opens her eyes
‘oh john’ she says
(for the first time since childhood
i am not just ‘dear’)
as if i had been out of the room
a couple of minutes only
‘i’ve had this dream
i was in holland and
the canals were frozen over and
people were skating’
she leans towards the side of the bed
where i am sitting
her loose hospital shift
exposing one perfect brown nipple
the one time
i have seen it since
the unfocused gaze
of my first days
‘it was such a lovely dream’
sudden intimacy
who is this person?
i wonder
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