Conversation with my grandfather, 15 months a widower

I just finished editing 100 pages of dictation, he tells me.
What’s it about? I ask.

Well, your grandmother and I
used to talk before we went to sleep.
Sometimes for an hour.

So, it’s that. A couple nights a week,
ever since, I talk to her.
It makes me feel like an arrogant SOB–
it’s a pretty one-sided conversation.

I don’t know when I’ll stop.
I don’t want to do it forever,
at least not all the time.
I haven’t thought much about it.

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Rosalie Hendon (she/her) is an environmental planner living in Columbus, Ohio. Her work is published in Ravens Perch, Quibble Lit, Sad Girls Club, Pollux, Blue Bottle, and Willawaw, among others. Rosalie is inspired by ecology, relationships, and stories passed down through generations.