Waiting Room

I am sitting in the waiting room. Funny thing- Mama on his ICU bed is no different. Attimber on the ICU floor, Akka in the ICU chair, Deepa pouring the ICU tea- no one is any different. We are all in our private little waiting rooms. Thinking…. I see you. I see you death, I see you life- I see my hand rest on your weathered, kind face. I see your eyes rest on my troubled, weary face. ICU. Guilt and regret are fogging the windows. Love and longing making the room stuffy. Just open that window a crack, slide open that glass door- watch the clean, crisp air fly in and sweep you out. Sweep him out. Release, release, release—blessed relief. From needles that pin you to that narrow bed of pain, from our groping, needy desires dragging you down time and again. Go now, go Mama. Shake loose from this torpid afternoon nap. Its time for a brisk walk home, to steaming cup of heavenly coffee.