words

“He likes me.”

A month ago he named a bottle of v8 Jerry

He never asks about Jerry

But boy Jerry sure asks about him 

“I’ll take him outside. Mr. Ladybug.”

I hear the storm door clack closed with a pneumatic hiss

Time stretches to the end and back

Then the door repeats

The sound of his little footfalls running down the hall

“Was playing with the bugs. I even found a rollypolly. Yeah I even found a rollypolly.”

I hope this is the memory that carries me into the after 

2023sm