Tender Here

She lay still in the body cast We weren't sure how long she'd last Twas my turn to stay the night Truth be told, that's alright. She was frail, weak and cold She mumbled in her sleep I'm told Nightmares ghastly she would fight Those horrors that nipped and bit all night. Her body was broken, but her perfect feet Were always cold beneath the sheet "Don't touch her feet," I told the nurse. "She's ticklish there, and what's worse She's nowhere to go, no way to fight. So please leave her toes alone, alright?" Oh that she could kick, I sorrowed her pain Incoherent mumbles were all that remained. She could point, a bit, from her better hand Though that, too, was ripped and torn, and oft ran Bloody in drops that rarely ceased. Lover, mine, her body was creased Like an old paperback, with a broken spine. But miraculously, her back survived.. I knew from her toes, her feet that were cold. Still she was ticklish, and we'd grown old Together. Her feet I could touch and I knew Only my touch could without tickles true Comfort her feet, ever chilled so. I warmed them softly, helping blood flow. She'd sigh and relax, and I knew she felt love Tonight I brought lotion, warmed, to rub Against her feet, gently, with care Pain might steal her mind, but she was still there. Six decades I'd lived, but only two with her Yet six centuries would be insufficient I'm sure. Two hands and comfort, without help from above All I could do was rub her feet, with love.