Paper-Cut

I got a nasty paper-cut
right where my writing callus used to be.
It bled; it hurt; it kept opening back up.

I showed it to my daughters.
They said in unison,
“That’s no big deal Mom.”

I sought out my son.
He just rolled his eyes.

Then I went to you.
You kissed it tenderly.
You told me it would be better soon.
You said to keep a band-aid on it, and not do any dishes––
that I could take some of your morphine if I needed it,
that it looked like I would get by without IV antibiotics.

Me with a paper-cut
You with cancer
It's hard to get any sympathy around here.

“Paper-Cut” by Julie Cadwaller Staub from Face to Face. © Cascadia Publishing House, 2010. Reprinted with permission.