Final
By Aaron Sandberg
The quiz I penciled for you,
dad, in the empty hospital room
on the back of your faded pain scale
dad, in the empty hospital room
on the back of your faded pain scale
had one question I never gave out—
knowing you already passed—
which went something like
- are you
(a) sad
(b) relieved
that you will never know
how or when your son will die
or if I’ll have one next to me?
Aaron Sandberg’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in No Contact, I-70 Review, Alien Magazine, the Shore, Space and Time, West Trade Review, Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Offing, Sporklet, Right Hand Pointing, Monday Night, and elsewhere. A Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee from the Chicagoland area, you can see him—and his poetry posts—on Instagram @aarondsandberg.