lately mom’s been calling one of my brothers phil
“i’ve done this drive before with phil,” she says
“phil is very nice.”
“can we go over to phil’s house?”
since we passed sad a long time ago
it’s mostly been sweet
that brother does look a lot like our mother’s favorite brother, phil
it makes sense that she would fuse them into one tall gentle man
at least i know who she’s really talking about
i still have all my marbles even if she doesn’t
and then it hits me that i’m the one who’s confused
she’s perfectly clear who her children are:
they are sara, scott, evan & phil
it feels new, but it’s really old
he’s just the one we lost so long ago
philip bowey etchison 1963-1963
welcome back, phil—where you been, bro?
