songanddancegirl

PASSETH

IT  PASSETH  UNDERSTANDING

“that pride, that furious desire to hide that abject

nakedness which we bring here with us, carry with

us into operating rooms, carry stubbornly,  furiously

with us into the earth again.”  

William Faulkner As I Lay Dying  1930

 

Operating room ferocity  disgruntled courage:  they’ll

cut me from stem to stern  he said   By-passed 4 arteries

Under red flowers now  except for when they made a mistake

and dug him up:  You didn’t pay for a full flowerbed  Pay up!

Or he is outta here   Careful where you bury your handful of

bones    We put a horseshoe for  GOODLUCK   on his stone

 

Another death-bed trajectory   Once elegant  +full of charm

dressed in Andre Correges  Now skeletal in leopard skin throw

turbaned  & weighing 59lbs   As much as a pile of rabbit bones

Is this an ending  or a beginning?  Depends on which way your

deity swings     The lowest low I will ever see?      Maybe

 

Some years later  82 yrs.old  +proud   with a brain tumour

Animalistic movements  Beyond speech   Beseeching light burns

in grey-green eyes  Get me out of here!   Granddaughter looks in

mirror  diminishing savoir faire     Yes    Get me out of here

Nurse gives 3 generations   a cold blank stare

 

And do not forget that earliest visitation   Other grandmother invites

5 yr. old onto her bed  though her mother said: Leave your lizard in the car

Photo snapped of girl  +dying woman  +green lizard with cheshire smile

According to Laurel Bundren in a new study out of LIVELAB:  Deathbed

scenes are all about the way social groups cohere, we find all kinds of

things we never dreamed of going on in these complex interactions

 

Father’s hand 20 minutes after death  still pliable   + then a mysterious breath!

Red headed doctor says: He’s dead   But it’s hardly his decision

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Early Fall  2014