Deciding Not To

This is a poem written about my father’s persistence in choosing life over death. Since it was written, unfortunately, Dad has passed on, though I believe he would have persisted if he could have. Deciding Not To was originally published in the October, 2016 Sediments Literary-Arts Journal, as I wrote about here.

Deciding Not To

a bird with an eye like a full moon
deciding not to die, after all–
–Mary Oliver

Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday he raised himself
up and packed a bag, the endlessness of it
returning like a cat with a mouse in its mouth,
dropping its little, wet, mauled gift he’d rather not have
in front of the doorway, where he would have to step
over it or push it away with his cane
or relinquish the attempt at avoidance and step on it.

He decided again to push through the soft ennui,
climb in the van that came to collect him,
go to the bright cold room, sit in the chair
with the warming pad and doze while
his blood circled round and round,
and he continued a little longer.

 

If you enjoyed Deciding Not To

I gave you a little more space between the end of the poem and this paragraph because I thought it would help bridge the distance. It does for me, if not for you.

You can read more of my work on this blog or in the collection Stars Crawl Out From Their Caves, which is available in both ebook and print.

I hope you have a good week this week. Look for another poem next Monday.

As always, your comments are welcome.