Poems by Grace Cavalieri

Lone Survivor

1
The night they put him on a
Ventilator, I walked into the coffee table
Cutting my shin.
2.
The day he died I walked into
The coffee table
Cutting my shin.
3.
These will never heal.
4.
The night after he died
I felt his hand on my neck as if
I could see through my
Closed eyes to his transparency.
5.
When they took his tubes out
He threw his head back
Like a white horse.
6.
Did he wonder why I didn't step in
To save him
One more time.
7.
Last night
At midnight I felt his hand
Touching mine
Moving down the right fingers of my right hand
As if it were the last hand
On earth.
8.
How quickly he moved away
I would have held on
Forever.
9.
How long can a person
Dying of thirst
Hold water in her mouth
Without swallowing.
 
© Grace Cavalieri, all rights reserved

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