How the Beautiful Changes
by Meryl Stratford
You lie in bed sleeping,
not going anywhere.
I look at my book,
not reading.
You wake and speak
but I do not understand.
I see
but I do not believe.
Outside are hibiscus,
bougainvillea,
frangipani.
The poetry workshop
goes on as planned,
words and
words about words.
Each time I visit
the silence grows louder.
The television stares at us
with one blind eye.
After the radiation
and the chemotherapy,
after the second opinion,
the word for today is
terminal.
I scribble words
in my book.
On the cover
a bright skiff
crosses green water
to a tropical island.
We were there.
Now I am this silence beside you,
watching you sleep.
When I leave,
you look like a frightened child.
I leave and return.
I leave
three kisses on your lips,
three secrets to take with you.
when you go.