June 3, 2012

innocence treading in silence
listening to the whirring
machines a sterile room

holding a bed on wheels with
white linens blankets
covering him in sleeping

standing close to her looking
’round watching before his
hand extends beckoning him

closer to touch his to assure
him all is well as he touches
then holds the aging hand

she tells him time to leave
he wants to go home with him
but she says ‘no’ not this time

“But Why?” his brown eyes implore
she can only say he has to stay
here for awhile ’til he’s better

until they say he can go home
but he can only look at her to
implore “But Why?” looking for

answers he won’t understand as
his innocence fills the silence
he tells his grandfather good-bye

I am still very good friends with the man I was with for 20yrs and married to for 30yrs. He underwent major surgery this last week to repair a triple aortic abdominal aneurysm and although he has other health issues he did much better than expected. I decided to write something taken from my grandson’s experience. Kade is 4yrs old and is trying to wrap his young mind around why his grandfather is not at home where, in Kade’s eyes, he should be. We are all pleased that his grandfather is recovering nicely. I was privy to all of this but the last part when his mother, my daughter, told Kade it was time to go.