because my brother is no longer with us
/Michael Estabrook
How did mother get to be 89? Seriously. How?
One minute we’re stopping off at the Penny Candy Store
because we’ve been good in church
the next minute she’s shuffling along
like an old wounded bird holding onto me.
One minute we’re passing around turkey
mashed potatoes and gravy
at her sister’s on Thanksgiving
the next minute she’s crying –
Michael Estabrook has published his poetry in the small press since the 1980s. He has published over 20 collections, a recent one being The Poet’s Curse, A Miscellany (The Poetry Box, 2019). Retired now, writing more poems and working more outside, he just noticed two Cooper’s hawks staked out in the yard or rather above it which explains the nerve-wracked chipmunks. He lives in Acton, Massachusetts.
