With aged and trembling hands
No grip to grasp the spoon,

She bunched up cornbread and beans
Into a mound
Lifted to her mouth 
Like laboring up a ladder
Pressed into her mouth—

Overflowed crumbs 
Drifted onto her nursing home plate.

“Old People has a hard time a-eatin'”
Mamaw said.

No offer to help
Came from me.