Caregiver, a humbling word
For one who’s been through
Three extended never-quite loves
Until coupled with one whose
Great heart encompassed this
Lesser one and taught him
Devotion’s deeper meaning.
Now she’s gone ill in that very heart,
Which no surgeon's wand can heal,
So kept afloat by an armada
Of potent pills, taken with care.
Once an attentive nurse, she knows well
Limits of care, on the slide to oblivion,
For which I will be her caregiver,
A role never taken in my seven decades.
More than three years having passed since
That fateful diagnosis and slow descent
Toward the time of needing deeper care,
Already evident in shifts of household tasks.
I'm a stranger in the strange land
That lies ahead, now readying
For a time when ambulation may suffer,
And help needed even in rising from bed.
Arrival of those fraught times to come
May challenge the birth of new abilities.
But the prospect of rising to meet what comes
Excites this aged soul who's
Left behind his worldly roles
And sets the course ready for what’s to
come.
