Poems & Short Stories

What Does She See?

Mother did not live at home with us,
Father would take us to see her everyday.
She could not leave the place with the funny smell and scary doctors,
Father why couldn't mother come home with us?

I asked him each day,
And each day I received nothing but the same answer,
She could not come home because she was to sick.
But when we went to visit she never sneezed or coughed!

She would sit in the corner in an old rocking chair,
And I would sit on the floor.
She held an old leather bound book that she would always read to me,
She never let anyone else hold or even touch it.

Father told me one day when we went to visit mother
That she was feeling better!
He took her for a stroll around the gardens,
And she let me hold the book.

She told to not look inside it,
But after they left I just couldn't hide it.
I looked inside my mothers story book and was very confused,
After they got back she hugged me for the first time.

Father was smiling as we made our way out,
I do not think my mother had even touched me before today,
What had changed?
As we made our way out the gates I turned to my father and asked

But father I do not understand,
Mother flips the pages of the book everyday,
And everyday she tells a new story on the same page.
How can she read the book when there are no words?

Written June 3rd, 2018