Iced Lemon Archways

iced lemon archways
could be the first three words

in a poem about aquariums or
the grand avenues of europe
but this is not that poem

instead these words lead
to childhood and the memory of
mom at the very edge

when dad would need a neighbor
or an uncle or a paramedic
to calm her down and prove
there was no plot

to
take away
her kids or
steal imaginary fortunes or
follow orders from the CIA

but just calm her down and
go see a doctor at the hospital
on the eighth floor where
the voices go to die

iced lemon archways
never graced aquariums or
led to europe or
any other escape route

they were a type of cookie and
grandma brought them to
my little brother and me

to settle things down
and say i'm sorry
but 40 years from now

you'll be in line at
the grocery store and see
someone buying cookies
and you'll think of this

and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.