11-16-2016, 08:00 AM
He studies the dinner card,
ticks off the boxes for Jell-O
and fruit cups; anticipates a deliciousness
that he will later swallow mechanically
on a plastic spoon.
He’s fascinated by his own breath;
tasting it on the exhalation, savoring a coolness,
as lungs struggle to filter air
from the chemical soup of the ward.
He imagines sipping an effervescent sky,
pouring it through a revitalized body. Shivers,
as fingertips recall their tactile experiences.
He turns on his side, curls up into himself.
The skin of his bone-racked back,
delicately corrugated for caress of latex.
A nurse checks his chart, adds a note.
She does not record a certain spectral gathering
that envelopes him, a swaddling pall covering his flesh
with quilted retrospectives of his mother,
wife, his dog, even a 1958 Plymouth
coddles him, imparts a sky-blue
and chrome enclosure for memories.
At night, he enters a potting shed
made of sweet tobacco, string
and dark red begonias.
From a gun-metal tin,
he takes a small Swiss Army knife,
scrapes a yellow clay from under his fingernails,
trowels wax from crumbling ears,
waters psychic seeds
with the milky drops of dreaming eyes.
By dawn tendrils will have sprouted under his skin,
they will bind up his loose ends,
until he drifts like a gibbous moon
over the new-sprung rack of his bed.
~~~~~~
Many thanks to all who got me to this revision.
ticks off the boxes for Jell-O
and fruit cups; anticipates a deliciousness
that he will later swallow mechanically
on a plastic spoon.
He’s fascinated by his own breath;
tasting it on the exhalation, savoring a coolness,
as lungs struggle to filter air
from the chemical soup of the ward.
He imagines sipping an effervescent sky,
pouring it through a revitalized body. Shivers,
as fingertips recall their tactile experiences.
He turns on his side, curls up into himself.
The skin of his bone-racked back,
delicately corrugated for caress of latex.
A nurse checks his chart, adds a note.
She does not record a certain spectral gathering
that envelopes him, a swaddling pall covering his flesh
with quilted retrospectives of his mother,
wife, his dog, even a 1958 Plymouth
coddles him, imparts a sky-blue
and chrome enclosure for memories.
At night, he enters a potting shed
made of sweet tobacco, string
and dark red begonias.
From a gun-metal tin,
he takes a small Swiss Army knife,
scrapes a yellow clay from under his fingernails,
trowels wax from crumbling ears,
waters psychic seeds
with the milky drops of dreaming eyes.
By dawn tendrils will have sprouted under his skin,
they will bind up his loose ends,
until he drifts like a gibbous moon
over the new-sprung rack of his bed.
~~~~~~
Many thanks to all who got me to this revision.
Quote:Original Version
He studies the dinner card,
carefully ticks off the boxes for Jell-O
and fruit cups; anticipates a deliciousness
that he will later swallow mechanically
on a plastic spoon.
He’s fascinated by his own breath;
smelling it on the exhalation, savoring a coolness,
as lungs struggle to filter air
from the turgid chemical soup of the ward.
He imagines sipping an effervescent sky,
pouring it through a revitalized body. Shivers,
as fingertips remember expiring experiences.
He turns on his side, curls up into himself.
The skin of his bone-racked back,
delicately corrugated
for the embalming caress of latex.
A nurse checks his chart, adds a note.
She does not record a certain gossamer gathering
that envelopes him, a coddling pall that covers his flesh
with quilted retrospectives of his mother,
wife, his dog, even a 1958 Plymouth
envelopes him — imparts a sky-blue
and chrome lodging for memories.
At night, he enters a potting shed
made of sweet tobacco, string
and dark red begonia’s.
From a gun-metal tin,
he takes a small Swiss Army knife,
scrapes a yellow clay from under his fingernails,
trowels for wax from crumbling ears,
plants psychic-seeds into that residue; waters them
with the milky drops of his dreaming eyes.
By dawn tendrils will have sprouted under his skin,
they will bind up all his loose ends,
until he drifts like a wane moon
over the foot of his skeletal bed.
~~~~~