National Poetry Month: Death Poem

For National Poetry Month I wrote a poem a day with my students and assembled a collection. This year's collection: Death, Life, Work, & the Words In-Between captures the early months after my mother’s passing, the early weeks after my son’s birth, and the early days I spent back at work. This week I'm going to play catch-up here on the blog and post a poem from each section. So, for today, here's a post about those last days before letting go of Mom. 

Departures

In the days when your departure

was eminent

but your outcome was still unknown

as machines pumped air

in and out of your lungs

and triggered your heart to beat

I whispered in your sedated ear

I urged you to acknowledge

an impending arrival

The night before there had been the taking

of an unexpected test

and the surprise prospect of a new life

so I hoped this news

might delay your departure

might be something to fend off what was coming

but there was never an acknowledgement

never the happy spark in your eyes

of grandmother-hood all over again

and days later your departure

seemed a cruel trick

with this new life swelling toward arrival.