Little Girl Again, by Brenda S. Parris, from A Year to Remember...with My Mother and Alzheimer's Disease

She walked with me to see the flowers
and the kittens at the barn.
She talked to them "Kitty, kitty"
as I held her by the arm.

She didn't eat much lunch
but rather wanted sweets.
She got upset when I scolded,
and pouted till she went to sleep.

She was delighted again
when snack time came,
and she loved sitting all afternoon
on the front porch swing.

Again she didn't eat much,
at the evening meal
and she grew so very sleepy
she could hardly sit still.

I hugged her and tucked her in,
and told her goodnight.
But not much later she awoke,
crying out in fright.

"Where are my momma and poppa?
Why did they leave me here?"
She sobbed "I want to go home"
as I wiped her tears.

She's trapped in the body of
a woman of seventy-nine.
I always wanted a little girl.
My mother now is mine.