Suddenly Swans

A young girl giggles her way through the summer spongey swelter. Her parents succumbed to the insistent call to close their eyes after a fried chicken picnic, And the tow-headed two-year-old heeded the call of the nearby pond. Glints of purest light reflect like sparkles on a birthday balloon, and she runs to catch them, Until the water is above her tiny head and her giggles become desperate gurgles. Suddenly swans, like a feathered rescue brigade, land all around her, And she grabs the beautiful white tail feathers bobbing nearby. She wakes up on the bank, surrounded by her parents, who, awakened by the deafening cacophony of the swans, Ran in search of their lost chick. Eighty years later that same girl lies dying in a nursing home. While she is old and sick, she is recognizable from her infectious giggle, Softly curling hair about her face that almost looks like it did in her youth, Especially when the light from the window bounces off the yellow, semi-gloss paint seemingly found in every institution. She is alone, like the day of the picnic. Father and mother are eternally napping along with her beloved husband of 61 years. But she is happy because in her mind she is still that young girl . . . Running to the pond, walking down the aisle, and standing by her husband’s side. She closes her eyes, and suddenly swans fly into view, surrounding her. She reaches out for the nearest glowing white tail feather . . . The nurses find her peacefully gone, a smile on her face. And, strangely, clutched tightly in her right hand, they find a long, pristine, white feather. April 16, 2019