Red Giant
~pantoum by Jon Dean
When the Sun explodes
in whorls of warmth,
with outstretched flares,
it will embrace us all.
In whorls of warmth
pulling our faces to brightness,
it will embrace us all –
distinction lost in its radiance.
Pulling our faces to brightness,
our shadows will burn into the ground,
distinction lost in its radiance,
our dreams will fade to silhouettes.
Our shadows burnt into the ground,
dancers in the dimming darkness.
Our dreams will fade to silhouettes –
we will spin to ashes.
Dancers in the dimming darkness
with outstretched arms,
we will spin to ashes
when the Sun explodes.
*
Sea Change
~Claire M. Jackson
The loudspeaker squawks,
Bringing to a close tonight’s
Visiting hours.
I take her hand, then.
Kiss her wrinkled forehead; the
Skin is soft and cool.
She’s at her twilight,
Of the day; for the year;
Of her brilliant life.
Rheumy eyes meet mine
Full of helpless, frustrated
Doubt and confusion.
“I know you, don’t I?”
She’s adrift, searching my face
For safe harbor.
I can hear it, then.
The susurration of waves
On entropy’s shore.
Washing her away,
Carrying her out toward
Icy black waters.
I have no vessel
Able to navigate these
Dark, poisonous swells.
Might as well try to
Drain the Pacific with a
Ladle and a sieve;
Might as well try to
Raise the Titanic with a
Dime store rod-and-reel;
Might as well try to
Build, with seashells and white sand, a
Fortress ’round our hearts.
*
On Call
~Greg P.
Restless nights, sudden arousals,
dreams which seem like some
festering sore of unfinished,
incomplete evaluations
of a rough-hewn history.
Sometimes waking in a chill,
others in a sweat.
All managing to underscore
how there is no refuge
in slumber.
So I keep piecing together
daytime events and daytime time,
when silence is no safe haven,
and only underscores that
anything can happen at any moment.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to share, Doctor Charles!
Love the “On Call” poem.
2 great poems. i especially like some of the lines including, “The susurration of waves on entropy’s shore” — Entropy is such a fascinating concept, i love to see it used in this context. Lots of Good stuff!
Vigil in the Night
–Anna Cospelich
12 Aug 2010
In the fragile calm of the wee hours
I keep my vigil
in the cloister of the ICU.
Twelve long hours I watch over
My charges.
A soothing hand on a brow here
Or gentle hold of trembling hand there.
A whispered reassurance that I am
At their sides.
Vital signs, physician orders,
IVs, A-lines and Foleys,
Monitors, electrodes, trachs and ETs,
Many machines that hiss and click in the
Dimmed light of the unit.
Comfort measures –
High tech and low tech.
Other nurses softly talking as
They pass along the hall tending to their own.
Earlier in the shift,
In a flurry of action and urgency,
Our new patient came through the double doors.
On a gurney from ER, the seventy-three year old, perched bolt upright,
Gave commands to her family trailing her.
Chestnut wig on her head, lots of mascara and that blue that
Women of a certain age like wearing on their eyes and garish fire engine red lipstick.
I noted the rings on her fingers
And pearls encircling her sagging neck will have to be removed.
Her orders going forth, she instructs her family in tow:
“Please see to this, see to that. . .”
And suddenly with her finger still in the air and her mouth open she fell silent.
Immediately looking for any sign something was wrong, I looked from the foot of the gurney
Into her eyes.
To my amazement I saw a light from inside her pass by the window of her pupil
And simply go out,
Like the lantern of a lighthouse along the shore as it makes its circular rounds.
Unlike the lighthouse, this light went out forever.
A ghastly grey crept up her chest to her shoulders and face, a blank stare shot past my head.
She hadn’t yet been fully admitted across our threshold, yet crossed the invisible one as we watched.
Anna, as an ICU nurse, I can really relate to your poem. I have seen many similar events, including one time when the ER brought up a dead patient — and it was evident that he had expired a little longer than a few minutes or seconds ago. Being an ICU nurse is no cakewalk. Hang in there!
“To my amazement I saw a light from inside her pass by the window of her pupil
And simply go out,
Like the lantern of a lighthouse along the shore as it makes its circular rounds.
Unlike the lighthouse, this light went out forever.”
Powerful.
I meant to say powerful and spoke to me deeply.