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Savor
by Glenn CurrierMy cousin Gary is dying.
We played kick-the-can in the park
he showed me how to make bamboo pop guns
on my summer visits
to the Reeds in New Iberia.
His mama, my Aunt Madeline, loved me
with the same love that woke her early
a thousand mornings
to fix him and the family eggs and bacon and cafe au lait.
Then she died of cancer
leaving us before I was old enough
to cherish time.
I can still feel the wind in my hair
running with Gary
sweating that little boy sweat.
How we ran
and learned to be cousins
in the grip of joy.
And now Madeline's son too is dying from cancer.
And there he is
my cousin Gary living
holding the wine glass and his bride
at our last dinner together,
teaching me again.
Savor
and spread around
the precious particles
of your love.
Since I visited him in hospice
I have been waking early
as if time was too rare
to waste sleeping.
The cat's purr under my hand
the smoothness of Helen's skin
the glint in her eyes
the colors of the purslane
seize me
and clutch my attention
my cousin Gary is dying
and I can't wait to live. 05/28/2012 Posted on 05/28/2012
Copyright © 2024 Glenn Currier
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 06/06/12 at 06:49 PM Time always bears down on childhood and death. "Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age.
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Nobody that matters, that is." Hang onto those divine memories, they remain one of our greatest commodities. This is an excellent write...really more about life than death (IMHO). Thanks.
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| Posted by Ken Harnisch on 06/07/12 at 09:45 AM ..and you living is his best legacy to you, Glenn and through this poem, to us all. God Bless Gary and you. |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 06/12/12 at 12:55 PM I must have slept through the last week of May Glenn. This is so such a beautiful piece. My thoughts are with you my friend. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 06/12/12 at 03:55 PM "Savor
and spread around
the precious particles
of your love." Thank you for sharing this relationship, Glenn, and the urgency dying gives to the living. |
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