The dark waters bring me
so close to shore.
I am now irreparably compromised
and must die here.
La pattuglia stalk the avenue
(almost curfew)
Sara
and the girls cannot come
Now. Not tonight, anyway.
I harbor no anger,
for my doctor
makes an impossible choice.
I am beyond money.
I am sinking
into seconds of happiness,
breathing in
that terrible oxygen,
waiting for a merciful
catcher to throw me back.
Breath heavy, crushing, filling
slowly
Outside, coffins
reverently stacked
in the hospital parking lot.
In a mystery, I see
dolphins and swans in the canal
And waters
I can’t see yet, but
I’m told they are clear
bottomless, and forever.
© 2020, Josh Medsker
JOSH MEDSKER (joshmedsker.com) is a New Jersey poet, originally from Alaska. His debut poetry collection, Cacophony, was published in 2019 by Alien Buddha Press. His work has appeared in The BeZine and other publications.
Ed. Note—We all wish for a better world and for something better to unfold from the tragedy of this pandemic. We take the next-to-last two stanzas of this poem as poetic license in the human pursuit of hope. We do understand and wish to share with you that the reported swan, dolphin (porpoise), and clearer water pics on social media are not what they seem. See this from Snopes.
The BeZine 