AND LIKE OLD TIMES
Uncle Mark
came to his side like a brother,
pulled the extra cig,
the one tucked behind his ear,
handed it to
my father, chest heaving.
Eyes on me,
he threw the cig in his mouth.
Buck took his cue.
I backed into a corner,
wished this
stupid elevator would get to L ,
for this whole
thing to hurry up and be done.
Buck struck
a match and the elevator came
to a stop.