Waiting Room
Tim Stiles
Thin gray sweater.
Fuzzy white socks.
Trifocals. Toothbrush. Colgate.
Still-good 1978 Avon hair brush.
Her favorite Harriet Beecher Stowe.
All that—
Ma’s life in a plastic sack.
He holds it tight while we wait,
My father’s million-dollar bag.