After my First Heart Fluctuation by Stephen Page

After my First Heart Fluctuation

.

The day after my first heart fluctuation

My mother came to visit me.

While we ate pasta and cottage cheese,

She began to cough on the ground pepper

She had liberally sprinkled on top of her food.

.

My mind went back thirty years,

To when my grandfather,

Who was babysitting my sisters and me,

Began to cough from pepper upon steak,

A cough that turned into a red-faced choking,

As he clutched the railing of the stairway

That led away from the kitchen an emptied into

                        The basement.

.

                                                            Later,

As I walked with my mother through Central Park,

And she rambled on about this cousin and that aunt,

I closely watched her facial expressions,

                        And noticed each flutter in her step.

.

Stephen Page is part Native American. He was born in Detroit. He holds degrees from Palomar College, Columbia University, and Bennington College. He has 4 books of poetry published. He loves his wife, long walks through woodlands, nature, solitude, peace, meditating, spontaneous road trips, motorcycles, smashing cell phones with hammers, dog-earing pages in books, and making noise with his electric bass. Most recently, he has had several flash fictions, a short story, and dozens of poems published. Check out his blog to read them: https://smpages.wordpress.com