Zipped - a poem after Kelly Tinker

Andrew Frueh

Telling Kelly's story "Zipped" as a poem
---

Sitting at the foot of the stair
and on the phone
with the doctor's office drone
reflecting off the walls of my brain
while above childs hands slide around on my scalp
and probe to reveal the source of my pain
a seam is discovered
and as it's uncovered
the children say "Dad, it's a Zipper!"

It's a shell that I wear
that they peel away
and drop in a heap at the top of the stair
then we three children descend
in games I'd long forgotten to play
until suddenly later that day
the world of grown-ups sent their thunderbolt singing
an abrupt siren's song on a telephone ringing

and so we run back up the stair
to see if after a whole day of playing
that old rubber grown-up suit
is something that I am still able to wear