Momo

Momo

A moment passed

and then another,

she looked so surprised

to see me,

though she has

a thousand times.

 

The Nuns call her Lou

smiling every time

she looks up,

from eating mayonnaise

with her fingers.

 

And I was so insecure,

a pigeon in a cold hand,

she was still grandma to me,

but I was a stranger to her,

perhaps I’ve always been.

 

For a minute

we were alone,

and she looked at me,

remembered;

she patted my leg

and said my name.

 

Then she was gone again,

I fought back every tear

and the salt they bring.

 

We left her there

with the Fathers and the Nuns,

and it haunts me still

that she was crying when we left.

 

She may have not known

who we were anymore,

but she knew we were there

to see her.

 

For me at least,

the last time.

 

I left that place,

to my core

destroyed;

she will never see

the woman,

I’ve become.