[Critique Group 1] Sally's August very late poem

[Sally Rosenthal]

                                                A WIDOW BEFORE MY TIME

 

 

"Aliens have abducted my husband,"

I tell myself as I throw another load

Of soiled laundry into the washer

And a voice snaps, "I will never

Go into a nursing home!" 

 

In his place, they have left a shell

Of the man I married almost thirty years ago. 

His polio-ravaged self betrays him with each wheelchair transfer.

Memory and bodily functions randomly fail.

The sharp intelligence that prepared briefs and argued in court

Can no longer follow novels' plots or keep track of routines.

 

Most friends, fearful of their futures or

At a loss, no longer call.

Distant relatives remain so.

With a heavy sigh, my guide dog lies by my side.

My therapist listens as I describe

My place In this downward spiral.

 

 

Aliens have abducted my husband;

I wish they would return for me.

 

Sally 

 

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