Today, I held you within reach of your mother
when you reached down the front of my shirt
and said, “Nana,” your pronunciation for nurse
and a name for what? You grasped at straws—
as if recalling my grade-school shame around girls
at the Y, when I crossed my arms or draped a towel
over my neck to cover up
—before you finally withdrew,
but only to tug the collar of my tee to peek in.
“Nana?” you asked this time but told plenty:
Love long before you take.
Sidney Thompson’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in RHINO Poetry, IthacaLit, A capella Zoo, The Fat City Review, and The Fertile Source. He is the author of the short story collection Sideshow (River City). Sidney lives in Denton, TX, where he teaches creative writing at Texas Woman’s University.
