The List

A Johnson's First Touch
clear plastic bag sits
in a wicker basket on the bathroom floor

Empty, the First Touch bag is
except for a child's toothbrush
a small bottle of teething tablets
and a list marked by asterisks

*Tylenol
1 1/2 droppers full
(0.08 & then 0.04)

*Teething tablets
2-3

They will dissolve!

Reads the list
from my wife
to a sitter long ago

This is a mother's life
distilled into a handwritten catalog
of instructions to keep her baby safe
from the pain of pressing incisors

She is intent
to mark her time making lists
for groceries
sitters instructions
appointments to doctors

While in her own
life
her list of needs grows
but goes mostly unread

Wants and desires
forestalled
inner prescriptions
put aside, yellowing in their own transparent bag

And I wonder
what I would put
if given the chance
in her Johnson's First Touch bag

Perhaps:

*Love
1 1/2 kisses
(press lips gently upon hers)

*Moments of embrace
2-3 per day

She will respond in kind, 2x over!