Magi
i
the nativity set is still packed away
in a tupperware container I cannot find
in a tupperware container I cannot find
and the tree it’s almost too big
for the room
for the room
what was I thinking
I don’t have enough
to fill those empty branches
to fill those empty branches
my brother-in-law in the hospital bed
sometimes did not know
sometimes did not know
who I was he would become
suddenly polite like I was just
some stranger visiting
some stranger visiting
after the biopsy his head was shaved
and swaddled in bandages
and swaddled in bandages
for a while he and my sister
thought there would be a different ending
thought there would be a different ending
a miraculous surgeon
if they could travel far enough
if they could travel far enough
away to find him there were holes
in his sentences backfilled with I’m scared
still he had an opinion
about what kind of mobile
about what kind of mobile
I should buy my baby what colors
should spin above her in the dark
should spin above her in the dark
I got the one he said and feel
it is a gift now that he is gone
when I look up and all the birds
are tangled together
are tangled together
and they can’t navigate either
still the baby pointing up at them
is like a message
is like a message
