Another day passes by
listless as I am wordless
gloomy, the clouds blanket
the day and I beg for
anything that might make me
forget another day is passing
while grandpa is on in-home hospice
care and grandma has forgotten
nearly everything. We live in
the sick.
The constant thought of the
impermanence of it all.
I try as the day hangs there
nearly gone now,
the oranges in the neighbors
yard too ripe to touch,
tomorrow the rain comes
for the next two days
but you cant bathe in it
like in Tonga where the rain
pours down like chariots of horses
dancing on the taro fields and
tea leaves. A cyclone
coming and us girls bunched
together under the overhang
took turns squeezing dollops of
shampoo into our
hands passing it around
like candy and smashed onto our
course heads like little children,
smiles the size of watermelon
slices. and laughter that trails
off in my mind 'til I'm brought
back. grandpa won’t know rain
like this, I don’t think he likes it
much. He can’t pray with
the sun hitting his back the way he
likes. grandma couldn’t care less what
the weather is like, she sleeps through
it all anyway.