Interrupted

‘What’s that?
What were you just doing?’

I suspect surprise and curiosity
In these lines my sister utters
But the slight frown and the quickness of tone
Make it seem like mild admonition
Emerging out of annoyance.

So my grandmother stops.
And now I’ll never know
How it went,

Her humming,
Done while fingering her nose pin
Eyes screwed to focus on a blank,
Body leaning forward, swaying slightly.

I would have liked to know
How the tune turned and ended,
Hummed as a lullaby to oneself.

First published in Hakara, 15 Jan 2018.