Monday, March 9, 2020

Poem

Scanning the 1888-1917 Board of Education Minutes





I had hoped it would be

like I had dreamed

the pages facing the future

without recalcitrance

(I not wanting to chance

a broken hip or last infection

as a trade-off for her legacy)

but it became apparent

an incision 
would greatly ease the procedure

It was all I could do to keep her stable

What started as dedication
became disassembly undoing

the dearness I had hoped to honor

by severing it

to spare her longevity

I snipped the ligament

that strung her days together

not listening, but capturing

increments memories 

whose meaning I risked

even as I held them

each by each in my hand

So must a surgeon

separate 

what you are

from 

who you are

to reconcile 

what steel might wound

what steel might save.




March 7, 2020

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