“I am a patient” I whisper in my head
and I should be treated like one.
Please take care of me
as I lie in this bed
with my insides burning
scared to death of this disease.
My bones ache
I tremble and sweat
and cry staring out the window at the parking garage
where my car is, waiting for me to escape this nightmare.
I wish I could say I’m here because I’m brave
but the truth is I’m trapped here by my body’s rebellion
Learn child they said and so I did
knowledge is the key,
the more you know, the better it is
and I believed them.
The school is out, and some of the neighbor kids are back in my workroom. Like every year, they babysit me during the day and make sure I stay out of trouble until my husband comes home. That’s the official version, and they stick to it.
“To hear never-heard sounds,
To see never-seen colors and shapes,
To try to understand the imperceptible
Power pervading the world;
One word or a simple gesture can determine if you are a smile or a tear.
“It is believed that the onion originally came from India. In Egypt, it was an object of worship —why I haven’t been able to find out. From Egypt the onion entered Greece and on to Italy, thence into all of Europe.” — Better Living Cookbook
They knock at my door -uninvited
they never respect my privacy.
No soliciting I say and point to the sign
hoping they will understand and go away.
“In the Desert
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;
Yesterday, when I stared at a picture of a building in France two things came to my mind. Cheese and Hitler, in exactly that order.