with a view

she pulled medicine from a spigot on the wall that looked like a beer tap
clear liquid quickly filled each syringe and then spilled onto the white tile floor
my dad spoke softly asking more and more of her
she scuffed her shoes through the puddle as she brushed past him

my grandfather sat as close to the window as he could
three newspapers on his lap and his glasses taped together across the nosepiece
he tells me about bringing refineries online
Venezuela, Spain, Czechoslovakia 
how he barely escaped before the border closed
how corn is for food and ethanol will destroy your engine
how happy he is we came

we look out through the big windows
sun soaked grass and the shoreline and the ocean out past all this
my mom walks in and he smiles and reaches for her
"hey there, kid"
it echoes in my head still
sweet and gentle and exactly what she needed

part dream mostly memory sewn together
from different times and disconnected events
blurry patchwork of what I liked most about my grandfather
storyteller, reader, quiet smart man
and a long ago lost chance to hear my own dad's voice
sweet and gentle and exactly what I need