Every day I get the question — How’s your mom?
in the grocery store
in emails
in phone calls
at church
at the health club
at board meetings
out to lunch
at a retreat
I withhold the answer —
she’s pretty nauseated
her neuropathy is worse
she’s lost her eyelashes
her toenails are falling off
she has unexplained skin rashes
her mouth is full of ulcers
she can’t sleep
And say the one thing I can —
Her smile is bigger than the Texas sky.