It’s lovely.
Stuffed animals with fixed grins
Dance around a crepe paper Maypole
Sunlight filters down through skylights
Glows warm on rosy walls
Sparkles on crystal chandeliers.
Lilies of the valley weave their spell
Lilacs and hyacinth soothe the eyes
With lavender softness.
Dinner is served.
“Cranberry juice or buttermilk?”
“Would you like the chicken a la king or the roast beef?”
“Vanilla pudding, or a chocolate chip cookie?”
Tomorrow the Norwegian singers are coming.
Saturday we go to the museum at La Connor.
And Sunday, the pastor will give us a 15 minute sermon.
Next Monday is the candlelight dinner
And Thursday, the May birthday party.
This is as good as it gets.
Bent bodies, struggling to stay upright
Faces creased with a lifetime of emotion
Eyes full of tears and laughter
Looking in astonishment at the mirror
“Can this be me?”
It’s a deathwatch.
“Judy hasn’t been down to eat in a week.”
“They had to take her to the hospital- pneumonia”
“Oh, George? He died last week. The maid found him in his room.”
“Irma had to be moved to the nursing home.”
How sad! Not me. No, never me.
It can’t happen.
I’m still the same inside.
The smell of urine
The pervasive reminder of the enemy
I believe in the resurrection of the body…
