Uncle Michael

I don't remember exactly what the ailment was
I had to be in junior high
maybe younger
I was legitmately sick
unlike the usual run around of fake coughs and
belly aches.

Technology is in sync with my biology
in adolescence during my adolescence
Sorry you're feline under the weather
I remember I was mesmerized by the cat with umbrella
We printed it on the dot matrix. Or maybe at that point
it was in color.
My memory tends to be black and white at times

Love Uncle Michael.

My first E-Card. I hung it up

And then I got better and i still had the
print out of the cat.

It was his turn next. He got sick
I remember exactly what the ailment was
His sister from California flew in
encology nurse.

I didn't see him the last two years
my Uncle Michael. No one did but Dave.
But everyone else, the chefs the musicians the artists
the friends
aunt Karen.

Kid germs. We were always sick.
We were a risk.
And eventually the print out was lost
in a shuffle of 2 dimensional things
tack holes left vacant where it hung

early morning, probably spring
i must have been 14.
The cat out by the garage had a litter
tiny writhing babys that would likely
get canabalized.

I collected them in blankets
but my sister was allergic
cried and cried and cried
outside the A&P with the
wild kitties.

So mom yells, its Uncle Michael on the phone
hes still got more hair than Dave
that was the half hearted joke.
So i tell him, the kittens
my kittens
how brokenhearted I was

Leave them to die. They eat the songbirds.
Its better off without them.
The beautiful songbirds in the morning
they eat them.
No one needs to save the kittens.

I got angry. I disagreed.
The conversation ended quickly
hand off the phone to one of the other
six kids. i was miffed.

That was the last time I talked to him.
I don't realize sometimes how much I miss him.