After my First Heart Fluctuation by Stephen Page

The day after my first heart fluctuation

My mother came to visit me.

While we ate pasta and cottage cheese,

She began to cough on the ground pepper

She had liberally sprinkled on top of her food.

.

My mind went back thirty years,

To when my grandfather,

Who was babysitting my sisters and me,

Began to cough from pepper upon steak,

A cough that turned into a red-faced choking,

As he clutched the railing of the stairway

That led away from the kitchen an emptied into

                        The basement.

.

                                                            Later,

As I walked with my mother through Central Park,

And she rambled on about this cousin and that aunt,

I closely watched her facial expressions,

                        And noticed each flutter in her step.

.

North of Oxford

After my First Heart Fluctuation

.

The day after my first heart fluctuation

My mother came to visit me.

While we sate pasta and cottage cheese,

She began to cough on the ground pepper

She had liberally sprinkled on top of her food.

.

My mind went back thirty years,

To when my grandfather,

Who was baby sitting my sisters and me,

Began to cough from pepper upon steak,

A cough that turned into ta red-faced choking,

As he clutched the railing of the stairway

That led away from the kitchen an emptied into

The basement.

.

Later,

As I walked with my mother through Central Park,

And she rambled on about this cousin and that aunt,

I closely watched her facial expressions,

And noticed each flutter in her step.

.

Stephen Page is part Native American. He was born in Detroit. He holds degrees from Palomar College, Columbia University…

View original post 66 more words