Evening she potties me
Bathes me
Nappies me
And tucks me in bed
Then it's tablets always tablets
To help me through the night
Morning she sponges me
Dresses me
Feeds me
Then helps me shuffle, shuffle to a chair
Where I sit staring always staring at nothing
Holding an unread paper with shaking hands
In lucid moments I read
That one in five
Suffer this living hell
A grovel, sans grace, towards eternity
In these moments
I sense cloaked fear
As she grips my arm
To comfort me
I am afraid always afraid
A footstep creaks outside my door
Terrified I cry
We have a burglar
She embraces me
Calms me
"It's only your son,
He loves you
Your world is safe."
I want to tell her
How sorry, how very sorry I am
How I hate being a burden, always a burden
How I long to be strong
But I can't mouth the words
To tell her that after sixty years
I love her still
Vacantly I gaze at my beloved
Her steady eyes reflect my grief
As she absorbs the face of a stranger.
Philip's Army is now available to purchase on the Amazon Kindle from multiple countries.
Book Number ASIN: B008R7DD20
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