To Kill a Fly with a Rubber Band
My grandpa could do it
from across the room
He also skipped rope
with the small intestines of a cadaver
when he was a medical student
Both stories make him interesting
to me, and worth remembering
I killed a fly tonight
with Ben’s Halloween sword
from last year
resting on the top
of the fridge,
where the fly swatter
should have been
My mom later shares
tidbits with me
while I prune dead leaves
off acorn squash and cucumber plants
from my son’s spring garden
He will not eat the vegetables,
but he nurtures them
like bald babies
I tell him what my mom told me:
how my great uncle
covered tables
with thousands piece puzzles
until you couldn’t see
the color of wood underneath
My great uncle Bill’s
great love died
so he took up puzzles,
trains, and golf
I loved the smell of his house
and picking raspberries
in his backyard
on the Fourth of July
when I was way too young
to understand
the complexity of
of living
To kill a fly
takes a steady hand
To live a life full-lived
takes something more
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