she saved her money to buy

a thirty-minute trip back in time

to visit the diner where

she could watch her grandpa

young with a head full of hair

working behind the counter

as she ate a piece of his

maple apple pie with coffee

 

the piece she ordered to-go

traveled fifty years

ahead of time

to be sneaked to her grandma

in hospice care

who couldn’t eat more than a bite

but breathed it in

and smiled

© 2022 Beth Cato