Content warning:
i was watching wheel cash prizes won lost won again after each spin cars trips jewelry gleaming lights cheering contestants
one more spin, pat!
i need that car!
i want that trip!
just one more spin!
i'd like to buy a vowel, pat!
gripping the wheel they’d spin spin spin again spin this time would be different they were sure of it if they could just take one more spin i fondled the chipped mug in my hand a super-glued memento of my granddaddy stained by years of store-brand coffee always bought from winn-dixie down the street
are there any Ts, pat?
my last memory of my grandaddy that tiny house lying in bed oxygen tubes shoved into his nostrils smoke from slender menthols wafting through his silver hair he was reading the gaffney ledger trying to pretend nothing was wrong trying to pretend everything was okay trying to pretend this scene wouldn’t be our last
⌈C⌉ ⌈U⌉ ⌈T⌉ ⌈G⌉ ⌈R⌉ ⌈E⌉ ⌈E⌉ ⌈N⌉
⌈B⌉ ⌈E⌉ ⌈A⌉ ⌈N⌉ ⌈S⌉
the ghost shouted solving the puzzle from her worn still cozy lazy-boy she rocked back forth back forth back forth springs screeching each thrust of a bare ghost foot drawing dust from the threadbare floor
what about an R, pat?
ghost grandma watched the fuzzy tv rapt attention to each black letter vanna blinked into existence she played along like all those other nights in that tiny house crunching cheetos licking orange powder from bony fingers ignoring crumbs that showered the lap of her floral flannel nightgown
i’d like to solve, pat!
during a commercial for bojangle’s buttermilk biscuits ghost grandma turned to me like real grandma did last time we were here before i left when she told me it was okay when she told me she was feeling better now her upcountry drawl melts her ghost mouth i tell her i’m not leaving tell her i’m going to miss her she offers the king‑sized bag
⌈G⌉ ⌈E⌉ ⌈T⌉ ⌈A⌉
⌈P⌉ ⌈A⌉ ⌈P⌉ ⌈E⌉ ⌈R⌉ ⌈P⌉ ⌈L⌉ ⌈A⌉ ⌈T⌉ ⌈E⌉
⌈B⌉ ⌈U⌉ ⌈B⌉ ⌈B⌉ ⌈A⌉