Frog in Throat
by Miriam Green
There’s a frog in my throat,
I tell her. She believes me.
I should have predicted this,
the way she understands literally
or doesn’t understand at all.
I wanted to humor her
but she’s asking how it got there
and do I need her help to get it out.
We sing the song she taught me for Passover,
frogs jumping on Pharaoh’s bed and head,
on his toes and nose.
Then she tells me, I found my nose.
I have noses.
I have husbands with noses.
I clear my throat,
that sound like a revving engine
or a strangled cry for help.
I’m writing a new song
for the two of us
filled with sparkling laughter
and an uncommon love
for the mother as child,
for the daughter she no longer recognizes.
Miriam Green writes a weekly blog at http://www.thelostkichen.org, featuring anecdotes about her mother’s Alzheimer’s, and related recipes. Her book, The Lost Kitchen: Reflections and Recipes from an Alzheimer’s Caregiver, will be published next year by Black Opal Books. Her poetry has appeared in several journals, including Poet Lore, the Prose Poem Project, Ilanot Review, The Barefoot Review, and Poetica Magazine.
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