brighter than the day before
stories pass and songs are sung
little ones clinging to knees
apparently knowing the words
hungover and unable to cheer
with the same voracity as just
a few hours before
there is this gradual awakening
like morning dew evaporating
they shut it down before I had the
chance to prove to anyone
I had already seen her face
flowers in hand and behind my back
brighter than the day before
july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
This is beautiful. The part about the sick/absent parents makes me so sad. But the ending lifts my spirits.
I’m reading this as if the speaker is Grandpa and the woman at the end is Grandma, and they’ve come to take care of the kids for a while because the parents are doing a lousy job. I think the kids will get excited when that happens.
thank you for visiting here again and sharing your thoughts on this piece
I read them all.