Childhood Memory

I went with my mother
To hold her hand,
cuz daddy was crying too hard
and wouldn't come.
Mummy sat quiet, even when
people stared at me, and whispered.
She said it was going to be
just like the dog. Only without the dog.
And she laughed, but no one
else did. We went into the room
and the doctor said hello. We said hi.
He asked if I should stay.

Mummy said I never would have wanted
a little brother anyway. She barely squeezed
my hand, and after said she was
just relieved. I just remember the nurse
after I went to the washroom, who leaned
down and whispered: "You will be just like her,"
so spitefully, but I said I would never
take anything to the vet, and the nurse
laughed, but it wasn't funny.