Koko was one-of-a kind
BOGO curious
wanted to know how things work

Master gardener
grapefruits in the yard
for 25 years Candi answered
radio gardeners’ call-in questions

Bird watcher
keeping parakeets, cats
tracking caterpillars
through cocoon to
bread-and-butter butterfly

Born in Mobile
named by her three year-old brother
for baseball favorite Connie Mack
(Freddie couldn’t say Connie,
only “ko” a couple of times)

Private duty nurse
kept smelly plastic skull
surgical remnants in her bedroom
gall bladder jarred on the bookshelf,
gallstones floating around
in formaldehyde

Worked 3 to 11
then escorted us on adventure
     detecting creek beds for dinosaur bones
     skating on ice
     riding a bike, first time
     driving a stick shift
     molding, glazing, firing clay
     arranging an underage library card
     publishing the neighborhood paper
     typing articles, selling ads
     mimeo distribution
     buying us sundaes at Dairy Queen
     taking us Sundays to churches
     laying on summer bed
     Houston’s sweaty heat
     sweeping us, mid-night, to the park
     to see the rings of Saturn

She loved big
hurt deeply
didn’t know how
to shield her heart

Her love for life
came through loud and clear
She wasn’t fighting death, lived
to her last breath, held on