Day 389

He had just begun crawling when he lost
his arms and legs.  Now others
must move him.  He
is so young, will he remember
what it was to propel across a room
swiftly, to have a destination
he knew he could reach?  His mother
holds him, rocks him, tells him
that one day when this
is all over they will find
a doctor who will give him
mechanical arms and legs,
and he will be taught
to use them as though
they were his own,
and this thought
consoles her, and the knowledge
that he — bandaged
as he is, still in pain as he is —
smiles when he looks up at her,
seems to know what
she is thinking.