Layer Cake
by Melissa Perrotta, MD
If you had a second chance Would you press your hand into the marble Melt through the dimension underneath Run your fingertips over the red velour underbelly Scrape and curl the wax down with your fingernails Would you make eye contact Ask the existential question Would you taste the tears Would you let them hold you Would you finally Lie down underneath the oak tree in your front yard
You paid dearly for that green grass That now pulls you closer to earth’ s core That holds your home And your children Could you care less what the neighbors think Seeing you there A starfish in the shade Hand in a bowlful of cold spaghetti Could you wake up And try again
Dr. Perotta is Medical Director of Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Norton Children ' s Hospital.
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE