Elegy: November 13th
Johnny died on a Sunday night-
I was lazy that day
wasting time
watching television,
delaying my prayers,
reading an old book,
one that I had read before
the creased binding of the book
worn raw-
She’d been asleep
all evening
in one of her favorite corners
off in the living room
I hadn’t paid much attention to her all day
Occasionally I would look over
and check on her
as if she was a piece of furniture
a black and white
Lazy Boy
with the foot rest up
that might move from the
particular place that I had chosen
for it.
When her seizure started
I thought that it was just like
all the rest
soon
it would be over.
She was epileptic
had been since she was three
with medication
to control her seizures
Potassium bromide and Phenobarbital,
Big and important words.
