What is Left and What is to Come
From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the hearse,
this line from a Kristofferson song runs through my mind
each time I visit you. It’s like you are back to being a baby,
rocking in the cradle of dependency, rolling towards life
beyond, especially as I see you now, asleep,
your discarded life in the brown wig beside your
white hair blending into the pillow.
I pack up all you have left, and you have accumulated
a lot over the past two years in this small stale lodge room
with fermenting flowers. I wrap picture frames in your panties,
two drawers full of panties, and so many clothes I pull
from the musty closet, three suitcases and two green garbage
bags full; this is all you have left, your clothes
to dress in for dinner as if you are going uptown.
I move you into your new room in the nursing home;
your clock’s shadow ticks in time to your irregular heartbeats.
I open the window, let in bird song.
“O Robin sing! For the secret of eternity is in song.â€
– Kahlil Gibran
~ Sandra Mooney Ellerbeck
Sandra’s poetry reflects a diverse spectrum: appearing in literary journals, magazines, anthologies, newspapers, greeting cards, cafes, visual art, songs, radio, and on-line. She facilitates poetry and art workshops, and works as a Library Assistant at the Edmonton Public Library. She is a past president of the Stroll of Poets Society and has served as coordinator for many of their events. Sandra continues to be part of the CORTEX, a multidisciplinary art project that links artists together to create new work to share during Poetry Week. She also created, coordinates, and hosts the Discovery Café in Edmonton, a philosophy café that also celebrates music and poetry. Just recently, work appeared in CV2, FreeFall, Notebook, and several poems will appear on Barrio Art/Posters distributed across Canada in libraries, bookstores, and cafes. Haiku is featured on dailyhaiku.org, and popular U.S. on-line site and publication: Heron’s Nest. Sandra was also part of Poets Across Borders: www.edmontonpoetryfestival.com.
Leave a Reply