Poem — The Days Before
March 12, 2009 by John Hewitt
The Days Before
My mother danced at my sister’s wedding
Probably the first time
In a long time
We aren’t a family of dancers
Someone took a picture
And it stuck around
In her hospital room
For a long time
They put off the surgery
Until after the wedding
On purpose
And I don’t know
If that was good or bad planning
Considering what came after
I went by the house the day before
She went into the hospital
We sat around and didn’t talk much
Like most of my visits
I gave her a hug
And took off
I had to work in Phoenix the next day
I tried not to think too much about it
When you have a bad feeling
Ignoring it sometimes seems best
I carried on
Worked
Stared at the hotel walls
Thought about other things
And when I called
My dad said everything was fine
He lied but I understand
– J.C. Hewitt
Related links
- Poem -- Driving Down (0.500)
- Poem -- The First Day (0.500)
- Poem -- Thanksgiving (0.500)
- Poem: Nurse Sunshine and the Drama Queen (0.500)
- Poem: Friday Night in ICU (0.500)
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Well written, well said, and from the heart. Thank you for sharing a painful time.
Dads always say things are fine when they aren’t.
Thank you Scott, Craig. Dads do tend to do that.
I like that a picture is taken of the sister and mother dancing — an event that rarely occurs — and that the photo “sticks around” the hospital room “for a long time,” indicating the seriousness of the illness.
The pace and mood is contemplative, just like the speaker who stares at the hotel walls, and believes the lies of his father willingly.
My favorite line is “We aren’t a family of dancers.”
Beautiful poem.
AOs last blog post..Ry Cooder/Vince Valdez “El Chavez Ravine”