The poetic city: “A Suite For Miss Helen, From One Week To The Next 5/23/15”

Miss Helen doing her dance. (Photo by: Greg Shelton)

A Suite For Miss Helen: From One Week To The Next 5/23/15

Lately, when I arrive for my weekly visits

Helen no longer looks up at me

with the surprised delight

I have come to count on…

Nor does she seem to take great pleasure

in the jazz that she once loved so much.

Last week I had to work hard

for each glimmer of a smile

that lasted but a second

before the inevitable droop

back into the darkness

where she appears to reside …

Leaving me to wonder

if my intrusions

disturb or brighten

the world she inhabits

as she endures the waiting

for she knows not what.

This week

I made up my mind

not to work for smiles …

Instead of carrying on

with exaggerated gestures

to draw her into the music,

I sat with Helen in the garden,

quietly holding hands,

listening to her jazz,

and watching the birds come and go.

And, when I was finally successful

in convincing myself that

I didn’t have to do anything

to make the time special for her,

I became aware that the tickling sensation

in the palm of my hand was Helen

keeping time with the beat.

_____

© Reece Burka 2/1/2019