Millie Niss
In Memory of My Great Aunt
I think I knew she was dying
that day I pushed her around Colmar
and she wanted to wait outside
while we visited the museum
with the painted harpsichord cover.
Now sometimes when she plays with the tubes
in the hospital she smiles
as if she were describing her grandmother
wearing a black bonnet on the El
going to withdraw two dollars from the Bowery Savings Bank.