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
