Skirting the banana skin
Did you leave that for me
to slip on, I ask.
My daughter’s baking
and we laugh because
we both know since my stroke
nine months ago
she and her brother
question why I’m wearing flip-flops,
tell me to hold on
when I’m walking down steps,
not to carry too much cardboard
to the recycling bin,
keep an eye on my feet.
My balance is good, I say.
I do Pilates, qi gong, can stand
on one leg.
I cut a slice of warm banana bread.
They remember more than me.
Janet Hatherley’s debut pamphlet, What Rita Tells Me, was published 2022 (Dempsey & Windle). She has poems in Under the Radar, Brittle Star, Ink Sweat and Tears amongst others, winning Second Light’s third prize, highly commended in Ver competition. Find her on Twitter @JanHatherley.