Donald Palm is housed within an assisted living space

(derived from a photograph in the N.Y.Times, 11,19, 2023)

Donald Palm is wearing a baseball cap with

a large white “M” printed in front.

the cap is placed on his head by loved ones

and it appears he's not sure why.

the cap doesn’t look exactly right on his head.

It looks like an awkward afterthought.

It looks like it'd rather be on another head.

I have a baseball cap, too, except mine is intentional,

and has a large red “B” sewn into the front.

I have a shirt like Donald’s, checkered and colorful,

but Donald's falls more loosely around his body,

the body rapidly abandoning him.

he’s being assisted while sitting at a utilitarian table

which is designed to better serve him, as is the twin-handled

broth-filled mug.–– the soft-food dinner plate which

was prepared with him in mind, seems to have been pushed aside.

I’m sitting at a utilitarian table, too. right now in fact,

being assisted by Elisabeth Bishop as she informs me

about a fish she'd reeled-in from the lake, and hanging

port-side by its hook, she describes its appearance in vivid detail,

which is how I'd describe Donald Palm had I been a better poet.

but to honor Donald Palm, read Elisabeth Bishop’s: ”The Fish”.