...
The last time I saw my parents
was not the last time I’ll see my parents,
probably.
But it’s coming,
slowly across a shorter distance
like walking my mom down the walk
with her cane and her new knee
out to the big, twisted tree.
“There’s a lotus flower there,” Mom said,
“in the crook of the tree.”
It blooms once a year, but I missed it. She laughed,
because what can you do,
and we walked back up the walk.
Maybe I’ll see it next time.
...
Noah Berlatsky (he/him) is a freelance writer in Chicago. His full-length collections are Not Akhmatova (Ben Yehuda Press, 2024), Gnarly Thumbs (Anxiety Press, 2025), Meaning Is Embarrassing (Ranger, 2025) and Brevity (Nun Prophet, 2025).
@nberlat.bsky.social | Bluesky