.................................
how far away it was
.................................

i'm standing over my father
in the hospital
he's stopped breathing
i'm holding his neck
and shoulder
and i've been rubbing them
because he always liked that
and it's the best i can do
while i'm waiting for him to die

waiting for his next breath

and it comes

and another

and then

i'm waiting for his next breath again

and i count

one thousand and one
one thousand and two
one thousand and three

like he taught me
standing in our garage
watching a thunderstorm
on the gulf coast of texas
sometime
when i was maybe six
he taught me to count
between the lightning flash and the thunder
taught me to figure out
how far away it was

 
.................................
ginger writes me
.................................

the words
fall one after the other
put there by ginger
by you
if you're ginger
one after the other
with the picture you enclosed
of your daughter
and of course
you
would name her ginger too
the ginger that lived with me
from a child of 4 to 6
while you were off
for holding those drugs
a long time ago
but ginger
came through just fine
and at 22
she looks like you
same hair and nose and all the
soft pieces fit together
so i can't help thinking
maybe
it's you again

.................................
Ray Heinrich
.................................

 
Copyright © Ray Heinrich
July 1996

...a poem in this room by Susan R. Gilbert...
the small moments of your face hover
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