Tuesday, November 28, 2006

A Living Will...by Naomi Halperin Spigle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When they say I cannot

hear you, sing me lullabies

and folk songs, the ones

I sang to you.  I will hear them

as an unborn child can hear

its mother's music through

the waters of the womb.

 

When they say I can feel

nothing, press your face

against my forehead, rest your

hand against my cheek.  I

will feel them as the woman

at the window feels the wind

outside the glass.

 

When they say I'm past

all caring, brush my hair

and braid in ribbons.  I will

know it as the seashells

on my table know the

rhythms of the sea.

 

When they tell you

to go home, stay with me

if you can.  Deep

inside I will be

weeping.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is very insightful.  All my grandparents spent their final years raising cain till their final days.   Both grand father's died in their sleep in their own beds.  I cannot see a better way though than giving back in those final years.

Anonymous said...

MONDOVAPOVA:

Yes, she is an excellent poet!  And I really loved the way the woman was captured in the photo...deeply moving, yet so subtle.

What's happening in your world today?  Must go check it out...

LD

TheStitchworks said...

This was written by my friend's mother. It was very touching that she was afflicted by Parkinson's disease at the end if her life. It was as though she wrote to her friends and family of her own life.