Recycled Watermelon

Recycled Watermelon

(In memory of Daniel, age four)

He was given the watermelon
on the Fourth of July
It weighed more than he -
smooth skin
shining in his hospital room
like the skin on his head

He let the juice run down
his chin and onto the sheets,
laughed, and spat
tiny black seeds
with life from lungs
that would later stop

so we laughed with him
and the seeds sailed
as far as we could make them fly
believing that determination
and the right doctors
would conquer all

In the end we are here
reminded of yesterdays
and a little boy
tales of watermelon
retold, embellished, recycled
as long and as far as our lungs can cry.


~ Alice J. Wisler