Last Week

Last week

I sat with Angie
my friend who is dying
faster than most of us;
after both her breasts
had been sacrificed,
her body radiated and poisoned
the cancer hid in her liver
so she is dying
faster than most of us

And as I sat with her
we talked of days past,
or rather she talked, non-stop
as she always did -
same Angie
only more tired and yellow and dying
faster than most of us
and she talked of funeral arrangements
and our boys
playing, fighting, making us laugh
and whether heaven had Nooks or Kindles
and all the books
she would read there

It was then
I vowed silently
that I would notice, cherish, remember
everything
I would not take for granted
all the little beauties and agonies
strewn through my life
like pebbles on a path;
but it’s only 4 days
and already
I have failed to notice
a thousand things…
and it occurs to me
that this is what it means
to be human,
to see with heart-breaking
insight and clarity
a moment-
any moment
but not every moment
for if we did
we would lose our minds

So Angie,
I will do my best
to notice and cherish
and remember
as much as I am able
and to remember you
when I do
with love.

Mary Bach

Posted over on her site Writing in the Bachs
Listed as #31 over on Magpie Tales 62