IRISES

by Shira Freehling

A bed waits in our living room
His tie-dye blanket, his beloved Zydeco
Music playing la-la-la

Nurse from hospice checks his phone
They’re here he says An ambulance drives up
Two men carry Eddy in They drag his tall toes on the floor

High on morphine, Eddy never wakes
His friends bring food and drinks and tears
They hold his hand and sit awhile, kiss his warm forehead
Leave

The second day, Eddy is still sleeping
Nurse from hospice shrugs when I say Good morning
He says Your husband’s not in pain

The second day at 3PM Eddy’s eyes are open

He sits up and looks around
He stretches as if waking from a dream
As if the cancer dream has forgotten him completely

We crowd his bed in jubilation
Eddy tries to stand
His father helps him, hugs him close, saying My boy, My boy

His mother holds her son until she can’t
Then turns him to me
This man, my lanky bird all sinew, hollow bones

He leans down/our foreheads touch
Our heads tilt back in fledgling Hallelujah
Our eyes lock My love his grey eyes say Can you see what I am seeing?

My Eddy’s eyes churn gentle sparks within an endless night
I sink into the irises/one foot here and one beyond imagination
Yes I say he holds my hips we sway to Zydeco

yapha
pastel
r.a.d. Leng Leng