Third Sunday in June

Let's workshop this poem about a father's tattoo of remembrance after the death of his son

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Third Sunday in June

In the still-ringing aftermath
of lymphoblastic leukemia,
petroleum-jellied thigh gauze
covers a plasma-seep replica 
of a construction-paper card
macaronied in pre-k normalcy

impossibly distant but undim:
the little Ds crayoned as Bs,
the S in “Sammy” reversed—
all an unevenly-spaced fusion
of uppercase and lowercase 
wobbles drifting to the clouds.

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This poem is unpublished

Photo: stbaldricks.org/blog/post/2022-ambassador-meet-rocco-a-5-year-old-full-of-love-kindness-and-faith