I order Key Lime Pie
because I cannot resist
even though I promise
I will only eat half
when it comes
Ben asks about my mom
my real one

so I tell him of
my doctor mother
in between bites of pie
how on a cold night
she left and never came back
of how things changed
then changed again
and continue to change
as my father starts a new family
I talk of the half-baby
and how I feel strange
and far away
from what is happening
inside my house

he listens, drinking his coffee
not saying much

it helps to share I think
tonight he will drive home
the oldest son
carrying the burden with him
and I’m still the daughter
that doesn’t fit
in her own family