Pepsi

So many of us now have a Big One

Clomping around the house with enormous feet

Lying in bed until we leave

Lying about his whereabouts and company

Decalcifying his bones with Pepsi

On the sly though he's got low bone density

Past his head I see the ceiling as I yell at the wall

"Your bones are going down the toilet as calcium carbonate!"

Three arm fractures, he doesn't care

"Don't drink that stuff. It's bad for you."

Sometimes I could almost break his arm myself

"Do your homework," I say, though we both know

I don't know what he's doing

I don't know what I'm doing

Then in tears he calls me up

Fell off his bike and hurt his knee

I drive like some TV cop maniac

Park on the sidewalk and help him up

He leans on his little dad, hopping

I tilt the seat back so he can keep his leg straight

Five hours on the Sunday after Thanksgiving

(They will doubtless say they didn't lose the x-rays)

At Childrens Hospital he breaks down

Cries from boredom

I buy him a Pepsi

© 2005