Following Friday's sins, I'd usually sleep in. That Saturday Mammy called up; There was Daddy dripping blood, Clinging to his thumb. He was stubborn. He sat back, I drove fast, And left him in emerg. Hours later, Back at home, The phone. The power switch Was already off, But on the floor, Next to the saw, I saw the thumb Lying strangely alone, The skin, the nail, the bone. He died incomplete. His stump was a talisman. Grandkids got a kick from it Asking him to count to ten.
If he'd told me he cut it off, I could have brought it with me for attachment. But he was a man of very few words.