It Wasn't So Long Ago

I remember when I collapsed onto your floor
Letting the threadbare flowers
be my only consolation

Mama just stared into the distance whispering
I know darling
I know

I remember the butter, the icing, the flour
How MawMaw whipped as I cried
I might have been proud of the cake
If you were there to laugh

The puffy jackets in the sterile elevator
My hair clinging to my temples with
heat
and
sweat
Still stands clear in my mind

We heaved the Christmas tree
And screwed it in the stand
It took all three of us
With a fourth shadow watching

I remember that night when you walked down Our Path
That one you made so many years ago
In the Southern Summer Sun

When you walked it again
You were dressed all snappily
The clothes you had from work
The day you went in

We hovered over you like nervous flies
You staggered to the couch
I gently tucked our new blue-brown blanket around your shoulders.

You asked what we were watching
Clara quickly pressed play
And we sat in silence thinking how good it was
to have you back

I kept my hand on your arm
Just to make sure you were
There.
Real.
Alive.