You like to list ailments
like a memory game
or one of those nursery rhymes
that sound cheery
even though they’re about the plague
granny’s knee
grandpa’s toe
mama’s back
you list about twenty
and even I had forgotten about
your cousin’s ankle
I think about it later
as I drive home
aware of how fast we move
in these tin cans
it must still land heavy for you
these occasional stories
of the adults in your world
made of mere flesh
for now we are still giants to you
immortal though hobbled
the same way we cannot resist looking
at a car wreck
all that metal
crumpled like a paper bag.