Elephant

My mother used to drive

carpools to Hebrew school. Now she asks for

the fifth time, “Where are we going?”

I could tell her anything, anything at all.

First she lost her car, then her wallet, not

misplaced (though that too), but absconded

by adult children concerned for scams, safety.

In the early days, forgetting upset her. Now she

sits in the sun and looks at clouds. “There’s an elephant!”

Delighted as a child.

Is that really so bad?