A Visit to Mom

Atypically,  she was alone
and silent,
wig askew,
all the muzak shut away
behind her half-closed door.
I knew that she had also  drawn
the blinds within her mind,
to soften the impetuosity
of joy.

 

She struggled
to pull back the thoughts
that like a child
would run away too soon--
reminding me again
that all the "simple things"
she ever thought or said
elude her;
then the love that she had stored within
emerged to let me hear her say,
"I am so thankful
for my family."

 

Her 97th year, a time
for facing new goodbyes,
new deaths in her to come,
that we will string upon the fraying tie
that flesh alone will bind.
Then in parting our embrace extended
past my equanimity;  I stepped inside
the elevator, closed the door,
and thus once parted from her
struggled unsuccsessfully
to don my streetwise smile.
              ~
____________

Reviews

[Tom]

An intense emotional parting described so eloquently in words! A unique craft you possess sir !

[Ted Farrar]

Deeply moving. The transience of life and the fragility and beauty of it as it draws to its end, like a plucked flower, impress more and more upon me as I get older.

[Dean]

Thank you, Martin

[Kelly Scheppers]

"I stepped inside
the elevator, closed the door,
and thus once parted from her
struggled unsuccsessfully
to don my streetwise smile"

...a palpable feeling, for me, as I recall with clarity the night my mom died. The hospital doors opening into the cold November night, as I struggled to hold myself together for my brothers.

"that we will string upon the fraying tie
that flesh alone will bind."

You penned this so incredibly, Dean...a new favorite for me!

[Dean]

Thank you so much, Kelly. I know that many have gone through this.

[Kelly Scheppers]

My pleasure, my friend. Take care!

[Marie]

A precious memory...I didn't not keep my mother that long...

[Ed Hart]

thank you for sharing your heart Dean...this lovely write echoes in me

[Dean]

Thank you, Ed. You are a most faithful reader.

[Zahra]

This gave me a shiver, deeply penetrating emotions. How difficult such times are. Wonderfuly described, sir!

[Dean]

Thank you!