“Sister Stunned”

 

c. 2025 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(10-25)

 

Stunned and in a stupor

Sitting alone at my rural abode

Not ready to interact

After this metaphorical attack

A passing of the baton

My younger sister has moved on

Across the mortal divide

Through a parting in the veil

It was not long ago that I visited her in a skilled-care lair

We shared memories lingering in the air

She barely touched her midday meal

But I guessed that it lacked flavor

A generic, institutional repast

Prepared with scant appeal

For three hours, I sat in the corner

And rambled freely in conversation

A habit I had honed over the years

She nodded and smiled and made occasional remarks

I did not realize that she had drifted so far

Ready to embrace the eternal dark

I could not have known

Though her gaunt appearance made me gasp, at first

I had to adjust

It took a few minutes of quiet contemplation

But then I settled on the situation

An ebb and flow in progress

Of a life force, turning cool and pale

She spoke weakly, yet with love

Thanked me for coming to this meeting place

Full of gauges and meters, and tubes

A cadence of blips and patient alarms

Keeping her from harm

Rolling graphs on an electronic display

Contract workers traversing the hallways

Cheerful and guided by a sense of duty, I suspected

I felt sure enough that my beloved sibling was being protected

Cancer in her abdomen

A seething rage of affliction

Poked at and prodded by medical methodologies

That in the end, could not cure her disease

Driving home that day

I stared straight ahead

The road, black and winding until it met with the horizon

I did not notice while at the wheel

Hambden Cemetery, on the right

A safe, secluded spot for final rest

When this chance encounter ought to have sent a chill over my skin

A portent of what awaited, when

That call came early, after 3:00 a.m.

A week or so later

As I dozed under a bedsheet

Groggy headed, with bare feet

Dangling between worlds, on the tangled threads of a dream

She had reached the chalk line

Of a journey undertaken in olden times

A final breath of filtered oxygen, huffed and held

Then, blissful surrender

The hour of her daughter’s wedding was nearly at hand

Her attention did not defer

Only when the date was surely gained

Did she release her grasp

A final fall of withered fingers from the bed rail

Riding on a sleek, silver tail

Wings spread for a flight to the heavens

A leap into the unknown

With faith

I had received her as a curious child of two years old

And now would bid her adieu

Sweet and sad to bear witness

Joy and sorrow in my own success

Giving testimony to our brood