The Last Gift
Two daughters,
cross-legged
on the hospital floor,
heads down
focused on their computers;
professors don’t wait
until your mother dies.
Neither will they.
Bedclothes barely
rise and fall,
her form
visibly shrunken,
eyelids closed
indicate
no awareness
of my presence.
It’s not about me.
Her husband
motions
to the empty
chair,
communicating
his wish
for me to sit
and stay a while longer.
He smiles as I comply.
Breaking
heavy silence,
I mention a tape
of peace songs
I’ve compiled.
My favorite, I say?
I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.
It doesn’t appear anyone is listening.
Then her husband
absentmindedly
hums the first line,
and, from the bed,
her small voice
joins in−
in perfect harmony.
The vibe in the room shifts.
The girls’ heads shoot up
from their computers,
as their mother holds the whole world
in her arms,
then they’re on their feet
standing at the side of her bed
as she opens her tired eyes
and keeps them company.
For the moment, smiles all around.
Elaine Sorrentino is the Communications Director at South Shore Conservatory in Hingham, MA, where she creates promotional and first-person content for press and for a blog called SSC Musings. Her poetry has been published in Minerva Rising, The Writers Newsletter, Haiku Universe, Failed Haiku, and won the August 2018 Wilda Morris poetry challenge. Her non-fiction piece, “It’s All About Attitude,” took grand prize in the Write a DearReader Contest at reader advisory blog, DearReader.com.
