I start to delete the e-mail from Vincent, not knowing
anybody by that name, when I realize the address
is my father’s. Last week he had surgery to remove
a squamous cell growth from his earlobe. As I read
his brief morning greeting, I again see his ear
swaddled like a miniature mummy, his hazel eyes
dulled with pain and fear. I type a quick reply,
better Van Goghthan Picasso, and sign it
your sunflower.
Delaware native Nina Bennett is the author of Forgotten Tears A Grandmother?s Journey Through Grief. In 2006, she was chosen by the poet laureate of Delaware to participate in a writers? retreat sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts. Her articles and poetry have appeared in the anthology Mourning Sickness, The Broadkill Review, Slow Trains Literary Journal, Grief Digest, the News Journal, A.G.A.S.T., Different Kind of Parenting, M.I.S.S.ing Angels, and Living Well Journal.