I expected
Kindergarten face,
Glazed like doll’s eyes, uneven
Buzz-cut
Saliva oozing from
The mouth.
Yesterday when he was
Smiling with teeth no longer
Caked with congealed mixtures
Of graham crackers and apple juice,
I just stared at my freshly-tanned fingers
And tried very hard
To exhale
But
The electricity –
So this is what change
Feels like,
When he sits on the park bench
Talks into the July air
With a jar of memories in his jacket
And brushes back
With long piano hands
Sylvan ebony curls,
Exhibiting adolescent jawline –
His syllables roll like dusty marbles
Constricting my throat, and
With what remaining breath I could snatch from his
vacuum
I say














Hello

And wonder.