Pip
By: Charles Giuliano - Apr 02, 2023
Pip
April 5, 1949
That morning
Dad woke Jo and Me
You have a sister
To my utter surprise
Mom had gotten fat
Really really big
I assumed it was disease
Bursting her belly
Nobody concerned
Except for me
Family friend Alice Moran
Brought me to see you
Through the glass
Nursery of Longwood Hospital
A row of infants
Matter of indifference
All more or less the same
What do you think
She asked in earnest
Taken aback I said
She looks like a fish
All wet red and squirmy
That summer in Annisquam
Our new red house
More like a butterball
Pudgy bodhisattva
How utterly prophetic
Where you live today
Posh Norwood Heights
Umpteen years on
This week a birthday
And anniversary
With all best wishes
To you and Yuri
The little squirt
Now all grown up
Oldest and dearest
Let them eat cake
Sicilian cassata
And buona pasqua