At the General

Robert Boates
From:   The afterlife. Toronto: Seraphim Editions. 1998.

I thought I'd lost her,
and cried all day, tied
to a wheelchair, facing
the wall. Nobody tried
to convince me otherwise.
I could not consider who
I was or what had occurred.

When Geraldine arrived,
she was infuriated
by my suffering,
and had it out
with the staff.
"People like him
don't know reality,"
they responded.

Nana passed in this
same hospital. She appeared
during my coma to tell me
it wasn't my time.

Living alone
two years later:
the family needs a break.

I lost more than mobility:
our children, our home, my job,
even the dogs.
Everything including
my fear of being born.

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Robert Boates's works copyright © to the author.