This poem has been published in How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver.
A Secret Sadness
I fight to keep from crying.
“Push it back, way back,” I tell myself.
Melissa’s eight-year-old cries of delight
mingle with the chatter of her playmates,
the smell of tacos.
Bill suffered a stroke that paralyzed his left side.
Will he ever walk again?
I paste a smile on my face, admire Melissa’s presents.
How can I be happy?