POEMS,2009 - CAROL RICHARDS SHARPE

POEMS,2009 - CAROL RICHARDS SHARPE
POEMS, 2009 - By Carol Richards Sharpe © 2008,2009

1. Our Friend Departs 2. Time to Eat

3. Down the Hall 4. A Quiet Morninig

5. In the Suburbs 6. Do Not Go Gentle

7. Julie Swims 8. Remembering Lyle

9. Lunch is Over 10. ???????

Other verses: POEMS, 1940, POEMS, 1941, POEMS, 1946, POEMS, 2007, POEMS II, 2007 and KATE MCCUSKEY

1. OUR FRIEND DEPARTS (12/13/08)
His daughters had tried to prepare us.
'He is with Hospice and he has
Maybe a week. maybe two.'
But when workers wheeled him to
The table where those who need
To be fed are fed we were not
Prepared for his beauty. His
Head was supported by a white
Pillow, he was dressed in pale
Colors, his blind blue eyes were
Closed, drained of everything but
Peace. That afternoon one daughter
Had said,'He loved a full house,
He loved parties, good food, music,
Kids everywhere, trips all over. Now,
He kissed me today, he really did.'
When Steven was wheeled past us
Lyle looked at me. So sad
And so ready to be, tomorrow,
One hundred and one. That moment
I saw Steve's beauty reflected
In his eyes as he said 'It's a mystery,
Isn't it? And it comes on so fast.'

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2. TIME TO EAT 1/15/09
We were riding towards lunch
In our chairs, and I asked,
'How are you, Virginia?' And
'It won�t be long now' she said,
Smiling. 'four years ago when
He had 30 days to live, my son
Showed me how to do it and
I'm ready. He was my inspiration.
When the lord wants me, I'll go.'
I touched her arm. It was solid.
I said, 'How do you know?' She
Smiled. 'Each week I have
A little less.' I said to her, 'You
Are my inspiration.' But she
Wheeled ahead and, smiling,
Went to her lunchtime table.
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3. DOWN THE HALL (2/17/09)
The old woman who
Has been in the habit
Of screaming when touched
No Longer does that,
Her departure prolonged
But not painful. Perhaps
Death is less painful
Than birth, the journey
Along the death canal
More quiet and friendly.
And Donald is gone now,
That lovely man who
Likened his walker to a
Diesel truck, all his
World's Best Golfer signs
Packed away for eternity
At the corner of the hall,
By the nurses' station,
Where he rested on his
Way to dinner - Donaldville,
Empty this evening.
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4. A QUIET MORNING (03/07/09)
Dana loved her plaid Christmas nightie and
Daily she wore it to breakfast,
Backwards sometimes,
Once wrong side out.
This morning it hung loose,
Unbuttoned, and she was
Barefoot. Later, as I passed
Her lovely room, I saw her
Seated in an easy chair,
Surrounded by family portraits.
There she died, quiet in her
Christmas nightgown, her feet bare.
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5. IN THE SUBURBS (03/15/09)
Midway between the bedrooms and
The dining room at suppertime
Sat two ladies, down for a rest, and I
Stopped to pass the time of day
With them, my small ice-filled
Bucket on one knee. Laila said,
'You have a lot of ice cubes there.'
And I explained at length that often
I coughed at night and it helped to
Have ice on hand because cold water
Stopped the coughing. Myrtle said,
'The air is so dry in here' and all three
Of us agreed on that until finally I said
Goodnight and wheeled off. As I neared
My room Laila said to Myrtle 'Now what
Do you suppose? Will she put her hand
In ice for some reason?' On my right hand I
Always wore one of the plastic gloves
The workers usually wore when they
Touched us, or our food, or our clothes,
Or the showers for those who needed help.
I didn't want to contaminate the ice cubes.
   [Home]

6. DO NOT GO GENTLE (04/16/09)
Lyle died the night before Easter.
Yesterday Dave and I went to the
Viewing held before the service.
The place was filled with
Grandchildren and great grandchildren.
His daughter began to cry when
She saw me.
Someone had told her I had Moved to sit in
Lyle's seat in the dining room.
I told her I didn�t want to look
Across the table and see
Someone else sitting there,
And I don�t.
His last days were strange.
He fell and bumped his head
And was sent to the hospital
Where he was so pissed that
They tied him down.
He came back and we talked.
He seemed OK to me
But he attacked one of the nurses
With a knife and some of the caregivers.
They took him back to the
Hospital where he died.
We miss him.
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7. JULIE SWIMS (05/08/09)
[In memoriam: Julie Sharpe Seck
(August 11, 1954 - May 3, 2009)
Beloved daughter of poet Carol Richards Sharpe.
Julie also leaves her sister, Christine Sharpe.
Julie was the wife of Aarne Seck, and mother of
Daughters Jennifer, Rachel and Kirst�n, and
Grandmother of Jennifer's daughter Rain]

And here she comes now
Right up the beach, out of
The wave, and she throws
Herself onto my lap. I hold
Her sturdy, firm sweet body
In my arms. I kiss her salty
Sunwarmed shoulder. Afternoon,
And I sit for a blessed moment
With my daughter until
It is time for her to leave me
To go for one more swim
Before evening. So she turns
To wave, to smile, and then she goes.
   [Home]

8. REMEMBERING LYLE AT LUNCHTIME (5/27/09)
'What if, when you die,
You can be a sheet of music
Or a waterfall, a breeze,
Waves, a sunflower, a bunny:
We simply can't guess,can we?'
Thus sayeth Dave. But I
Said, 'Maybe an inning of baseball,
A lob, a kick through
The goalposts.' dave laughed.
'How limited we are,' he said.
Lyle would have said, 'God is
because we need him to be.'
   [Home]

9. LUNCH IS OVER (05/28/09)
Dan walks through the dining room
Trailing an aura of stench.
And, Jesus,
We say to one another, it is like
Eating lunch in a public toilet.
Fresh fruit immediately declines.
We wonder how his roommate stands it.
El says,'he pooped on the floor twice,
And Gary took pictures on his phone.
He intends to show them to management.'
No one says Dan can't help it
Everyone knows that he can't.
'It could happen to us tomorrow,' El says.
   [Home]

10.(02/27/08)

Other works by Carol Sharpe: POEMS, 1940, POEMS, 1941, POEMS, 1946, POEMS, 2007and KATE MCCUSKEY

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