floating

Remember when you wrapped me

in a blanket

with a high fever?

Rushed me to the emergency room

They stuck a long needle into my back

The fever subsided, but your pain did not

The pain of not knowing

The pain of not having

your own mother there

to tell you the anecdotal actions

one should take

when one’s child is sick

Remember when you found me?

In the pool

Almost drowning

You say you saw

my short black hair

wispy tufts

Body floating gently

as if in the womb

I was four, you twenty-nine

You saved me

and once again I

owed you my tiny fragile life