What are faces to my mother
who no longer feels the tug of relationship,
that nagging sensation that used to say
when a face belonged to a friend,
a husband, a daughter.
Faces lost their meaning
& history for her,
beyond a bleeding of color & features
less interesting
than the lilacs I cut for her
last May.
I know she has lost one more part
of what grounds her,
& when that last line is cut
& she drifts unpiloted into sky
she will know nothing else
but that sensation of flight.
Advertisements
Beautiful, beautiful Susan in the way you have captured an angonizing disease process. xxoo Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer–those last 3 lines were a gift.
She’s actually closer to forever and you than we realize.. I tell you because of experience and memory is eternal despite this season of apparent disassociation. Her soul has a perfect recollection Susan ~I assure you ~ALWAYS in my prayers, Deb
Thanks for the kindness 🙂
This is actually my favorite of the “Lois” poems.
>________________________________
Simply beautiful. You capture the disease perfectly.
Thank you!
Was going through mails in my spam and found this.
How you must love her! How you must have loved her! and how her challenge must have challenged you! But ultimately what comes across is the love, so intense, the flilial devotion, so complete and a daugher’s pain at not being able to help the mum overcome! Love indeed lasts forever! 1 cor 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
One of my favorite chapters…..
very uncanny – we appear to be liking the same things!
Now do not tell me that you were born on the 23/12 or I will go ans see a prophetess immediately!
No–you are safe there, my almost-Christmas-present friend–I am 9/19–oops–as you across the Atlantic put it, 19/9 🙂 But both earth signs 🙂