Left
Left
© By Holly W. Schwartztol
Early on that morning
I wracked my brain
Trying to solve
A computer glitch
As I left the wretched machine
I rose and felt suddenly dizzy
And as the room spun
I chided myself
Saying this isn’t worth
Your having a stroke
I lay down on the bed
Listened to a disc
That promised
Relaxation and rest
My head stopped throbbing
And the phone rang
The caller ID said
Mother
What was she doing at
Home in mid-morning?
Only the voice on
The other end
Wasn’t hers
But the
Maid I’d never met
Telling me of mother’s
Neck pain and strange speech
And then I knew
That my pain had
Really belonged to her
That my dizziness
Reflected hers and that
It was she who was
In fact having a stroke
Frantic calls ensued
Between Miami and New York
A neurologist
Saying that the stroke
Had been massive
That the prognosis was grim
Words of paralysis
And irretrievable
Brain damage
I faxed the living will
Which is really the
Will of the living isn’t it?
We sat by her bedside
For four endless days
And then her breath
Was no more and she was gone.
And at 62 I was
Suddenly an orphan
Both parents gone
The older brother
Having gone 40 years ago
How do I live in
This world
On this planet
As the lonely satellite
The last member
Of my nuclear family
Here to sift through
The pictures
And the letters
And all the memorabilia that
Make up a life
Copyright © Holly Schwartztol | Year Posted 2009
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