Snot!

Microscopic scenes from my son’s snot wiped from his nostrils with my thumb and forefinger, the way I wipe his nose anytime it is running dripping going and there’s nothing on hand, no tissue on hand, the way I swore I’d never wipe another human’s nose before I became a mother. This slide, we made it in early spring, days or the day before he started antibiotics. I never labeled it, the thinking was I’d know his snot anywhere.

New York, 2024