Meg Pokrass
Alzheimer’s Kidnapping
No calls no words no kisses
no complaints no old Westerns
no laughter no being
silly for the sake of being silly
nothing unfolds no pain no problems,
no memories of a sister no memories
of a sister no sentimentalization
of a sister no words I might have said
no realizations of what she endured
no nothing to be wrong about
no house flies no fridge photo
goosebumps no memories
of her sunflower face no memories
of her shiny soft hair her old flannel
sleeping shirts no turning on
the TV as a fan watching the glow
from her past no sadness no thinking of a
better ending no good days
no bad days nothing like that
Meg Pokrass is the author of First Law of Holes: New and Selected Stories (Dzanc Books, 2024) and eight previous collections. Her work has appeared in RATTLE, The Pedestal, American Journal of Poetry, Plume, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Ink Sweat & Tears and elsewhere. She is an American author living and teaching in the Scottish Highlands.
Banner Art:
Georgia O’Keeffe, Above the Clouds I, 1962-1963, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
