RAISING FATHER

By Mydhili R Varma

I replace the fancy collectibles

In my curiosity shelf

With the palm leaf toys

My father and I make

One toy every day he manages to leave his bed

My father’s shaky, freckled, wrinkly hands

Making seamless contours in palm leaves

Mine an inadequate imitation of his artwork

Together we make birds,

Cubes, balls, lanterns, dragons

Into which I secretly slip

A paper roll with a prayer written on it

A prayer to heal my father

Like palm leaf fortune cookies

All he remembers from his past

Is how to make these toys

When hope falters

All I keep reminding myself

Is that this is the right way

For a son to raise a father

All I know for sure is that

I would fill every inch of our house

With shelves after shelves

To display his palm leaf creations

For every day he beats Alzheimer’s

By Mydhili R Varma