My engine stopped
Suddenly
Twenty miles north of Culpepper
A January night asserted it’s dominance
“I’m DARK.”
Something like that isn’t supposed to happen.
But then it sprang to life and forgetfulness again
But I couldn’t relax until I forgot
Eighty miles down the road
That I surfed on an ice floe
In a big, big ocean
She fell last week
A January night sprang up
“I’ve been waiting for you”
And now she’s trapped in bed
Among the crochet blankets made on sunnier days
Something like that isn’t supposed to happen
“You’d better come see Betty”
A nurse buddy said in a moment of serendipity
When I happened to be walking down the hall
For thirty seconds every thirty days
(What are the odds?)
So I did, and saw that haggard gasp and gaping mouth that pleads with the reaper for one more day
Looked down into her face and asked how she was
(Her answer mumbly)
Told her she could rest
“You did so much. I remember playing your family movies for you. The casseroles were always perfect.”
Relaxing into a glaze, she melted back into her pillow, alarming me
but hung on a bit longer
What a gift that we get to talk for a moment on the shore before the river sweeps us away
We both knew it was goodbye, so I told her that I loved her, and confessed with a laugh that I once threw a game of bingo for her. “You made calling the game bearable. Thank you.”
She smiled.
“See ya”
With a small wave
Of a heavy hand
I left.