Grandpa

He held onto the fence
as his wife hurriedly dropped off
the bread pudding he’d made
at our door

his white hair and his white face
enveloped by the cold white sky

my kids in their underwear
run to the window and blow kisses
mouthing thank you and I love you
with silent exaggerated enunciation
the same way their mouths stretch wide
around the words
when they yell them out loud
so Grandpa can hear

we haven’t seen him in weeks
and he looks the same

stoic and old

we all felt sad after they drove away
and my son had a cry
but a few hours later Grandpa called
asking us if we liked it

the kids yelled into the phone that they did
and they had to repeat it at least ten times
but he finally understood
and then he laughed
a truly happy laugh
and promised a rice pudding
next week.