Your Mother Said
By Donna Wallace
Her new oncologist responded to your email.
You, the good son —
honest, direct and medically trained — likely know
You, the good son —
honest, direct and medically trained — likely know
she will undergo imaging on the fourteenth of April
and learn results on the twenty-first.
Your mother said she likes him — he is young,
has two children, and is from Brazil.
They speak Portuguese in Brazil, she said,
but you probably knew that.
I know these things because I asked.
Don’t call back.
I’m fine.
Donna Wallace lives in Lewisville, North Carolina and is the president of Winston-Salem Writers and the director of Poetry In Plain Sight, a state-wide initiative placing poetry in public spaces. Her work appears in Camel City Dispatch, Poetry In Plain Sight, and in various faith publications. Retired from nursing, teaching and stay-at-home-parenting, Donna enjoys cycling with her husband Hugh and writing poetry with her critique group compadres. If you spot a JAVANUT license plate, make haste to the nearest coffee shop—she’s right inside.