VISIT? OR? - A PAD DAY 2 CHALLENGE POEM

VISIT? – OR?

I can come for a visit

Someone here will fold

the walker into the car

you send for me

I will be presentable

they have someone who

styles hair here now

not like last time

perhaps at ninety three

hair should not fall free

on shoulders as you said

I can come for a visit

and sit in that chair

you have for me by

the window – I won’t

comment on the crinkle

of the plastic I feel under

the pretty paisley throw

I can come for a visit

and see your new Prada

admire its sheen

and smile when you and yours

laugh those laughs they

must have given out when

you came into your own

I can come for a visit

Or

I can come

and cut carrots

for the holiday dinner

even from a chair

my fingers tremble

but my heart is strong

I can come for a visit

Or I can return to my home

by the lake with the sagging

porch that you say is being fixed

while I visit in that place perfumed with

faint urine for another year

I can visit

Or

I can return to the home that is no more

Stand on the shore of the lake that shines

With a reflection of all that was before and

Just after you

I can

visit

Or ….

I can stay

With you – it shouldn’t be for too long

I have some stories left unspoken

Yet, my voice too sudden-soft to speak

I write instead …

“Dear Child, – Thank you, for the kind invitation

to visit but I must..

Decline