[Magdalen] [Magdale

[ME Michaud]

I brought chicken pox home from nursery school.
My newborn brother caught it,
and so did my mother
(who'd been a sheltered only child and had never been exposed).
I can still see her standing,
stark naked,
in the bathroom,
glaring at me.

My grandmother had to take care of baby Brother.
I remember she bound his hands to keep him from scratching himself.
And I remember that he cried, really howled, for hours and hours.
-M