Ellen McGrath Smith
Cool Jade Water
She blithely stepped off the cliff,
dropping into the cool jade water I loved.
That was the dream, and she
was my mother. I jumped in after her
and pulled her to a rope ladder. Hold on,
I said from behind her, her frail body
dead weight against my chest.
There were so many rungs
heading up toward the sun.
Next day, the doctor tells her
her blood glucose is way too high.
At lunch after, she orders dessert.
Ellen McGrath Smith teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. Her books include The Dog Makes His Rounds; Scatter, Feed; and Nobody’s Jackknife (West End Press, 2015). Her work has won Orlando and Rainmaker awards, and has appeared in The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, and other journals. www.ellenmcgrathsmith.com.