Tamara died last evening with her husband, son and parents at her side. Please keep them in your hearts.
"I had thought the tumors..."
by Grace Paley, from Fidelity. © Etruscan Press, 2008. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
I had thought the tumors
on my spine would kill me but
the tumors on my head seem to be
extraordinary competitive this week.
For the past twenty or thirty years
I have eaten the freshest most
organic and colorful fruits and
vegetables I did not drink I
did drink one small glass of red
wine with dinner nearly every day
as suggested by The New York Times
I should have taken longer walks
but obviously I have done something wrong
I don't mean morally or ethically or
geographically I did not live near
a nuclear graveyard or under a coal
stack nor did I allow my children
to do so I lived in a city no worse
than any other great and famous city I
lived one story above a street that led
cabs and ambulances to the local hospital
that didn't seem so bad and was
often convenient
In any event I am
already old and therefore a little ashamed
to have written this poem full
of complaints against mortality
which biological fact I have been constructed
for to hand on to my children and grand—
children as I received it from my
dear mother and father and beloved
grandmother who all
ah if I remember it
were in great pain at leaving
and were furiously saying goodbye
4 comments:
So sorry for their (and your) loss. Prayers.
Oh, so sorry for your loss. Only the best and warmest thoughts for the loved ones she left behind.
I'm sorry. Hopes & prayers go with her.
So sorry to read about the loss of your friend. Sending warm, woolly thoughts your way.
Post a Comment