This is more of a story than a poem. But it is a true story.

In a Georgia Hospital

Upon not-so-close close inspection,
It is obvious that
The left arm of the five year old boy laying in the Hospital Bed
Is misaligned
  Upon seeing it,
The Comment from his Great-Uncle
  Three hours earlier
 was: “That’s bad.”

But the boy is otherwise injured.
Most noticeable is the large scratch on his forehead
 There are also scrapes on both arms and his left shoulder

He has an IV in his arm.

He is mostly unclothed,
but this doesn’t seem to bother him.

I suspect that he is silently nervous
because he knows that they still have to fix his arm
 And he has no idea what that is going to entail
And
because a description of the procedure would not give him peace
 I have not enlightened him

He seems mostly comfortable, and somewhat sleepy because of the morphine.

His lips are chapped and he has been asking me for water
He has had no food or water for nine hours
And they won’t let him have any before surgery.
And he has cried because he will miss the big barbecued meal with his cousins.

We have prayed together that his arm would feel better. God will answer that prayer.

He asks me again to continue telling him the story that I am creating for him
About a family’s pleasant Lake Superior outing
 They hike together
They walk along the shore
(I try not to mention food)
 They see waterfalls
 They sleep at the cozy cabin
  This is where I would rather be.
  I hope my words can help Daniel escape, as well.
 Days later,
He will surprise me by telling the rest of our family
In no small detail
The whole story that I tell him here.

Now they are wheeling him away from me.
 Down the long white hallway
Into surgery
 And after that he will probably sleep until morning.
I see tension in his eyes
And hear it in his voice
as he bravely says, “Bye, Daddy.”

I hope he knows that I love him.