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.