wiggle your nose

we were sittin' on her back porch admiring the day.
just gorgeous out.
she lives two doors down. we have a neighbor
between us. but you can see my yard from her yard.

we look over at this big ol' branch that got broken
on my trees in the winter storms. i hadn't even
noticed it.

'wow. look at that!' i said.

she said that was always the tree she looked at and
thought i should decorate for christmas. it's this
huge evergreen that i could never get up high enough
to decorate. we both laughed.

and then she made the cutest comment. like she was
a little girl. and she said we could just wiggle our
noses and the branch would get fixed. and then she
told me she's seen 'bewitched' on television.

i looked at her amazed. how can a woman in her eighties
be so like a little girl sometimes?

'wouldn't it be great if you got that magical power
when you turned eighty?' i asked her. 'you could just
wiggle your nose and you could move things, and fix things
and clean things.'

her entire body lit up for a moment.
it lit up so bright i was taken aback.

she LOVED the idea.
WOULDN'T THAT BE WONDERFUL! she said.
and her whole body just reacted.

it was the cutest moment. and such a sad moment at the
same time.

man, i wish i could give her that.
i so wish i could give her that.

i see her slowin' down a lot lately.
and i know it's the cycle and the way of life.

i think it sucks tho.

and it makes me sad.

and if i could, i'd give her that in a heartbeat.