It’s Christmas time
That means Grandma and Grandpa
are here to visit
The adults are out to dinner
leaving my brother Garrett and I
to entertain ourselves.
Driving the sitter nuts with our antics,
hopping on the furniture
as they turned to black rocks
before our eyes, because after all,
the floor was lava.
Talking in our secret language
which we call Spanglish.
We’re not too sure what it means,
but we both heard it on the T.V. and we like it.
The adults are home, it’s time for bed
we rush upstairs.

It’s funny how certain dreams
stick out in your mind over others.
This one came up out
out of the darkness
rushing at me,
building with a thud,
then a scream, and finally
a shrill wail.
I wake up with a start
To red and blue flashes across my face
and my Dad standing over my bed.
“Grandma is going to the hospital.”
He had tears in his eyes as he hugged me.
I don’t understand
If hospitals are supposed to make you better,
then why is Dad crying?
I learned later that it was something called
a heart attack.
I’m not sure why but
My brother and I didn’t use our secret language
very much after that.