Activity Room

John Bargowski

My mother wants nothing to do with the puzzle 

 two other residents, 

whose wheelchairs have been rolled up 

 to a folding card table, 

are trying to put together --

 a west-side shot of the New York skyline 

broken up into a thousand pieces, 

 the stubborn morning smog 

she could see from the apartment 

 she had to give up Photoshopped out, 

the OT insisting Mom join in the fun, 

 taking my mother's stroke-locked hand 

and guiding it to 

 a corner piece that's an easy fit, 

Mom's head craning over 

 a missing section of the murky river 

she swam in as a girl 

 before her fingers begin to shovel 

through half-built walls, skyscraping towers, 

 pushing aside everything 

that's been pieced back together 

 to shove a jigsaw shape 

into a hole she's found 

 in the skyline.