Awakening

Somewhere between the

folds of the sheets

and the soft green blanket,

the recesses of my mind took me

to another world…

a world where Daddy and Momma

were old.

He barely stayed awake at the wheel

yet refused to give it up.

Finally convincing him,

I drove on until my eyes burned and bled

and the bitter taste in my mouth

could not be quenched.

She gave her last three prescription pills

to a homeless woman.

Exasperated, I cried,

Momma, why’d you do that? You needed those pills!

Looking down at her hands, she murmured,

I guess I wasn’t thinking.

Helpless as they were

their pitiful state showed an independence

and urgency to be reckoned with.

Even in their aging

they gave freely

and knew no strangers,

their vitiated minds and bodies

successors to those I have known

all my life.

I awoke

with racing heart

and whirling mind

only to realize

dreams are a realm of reality

awaiting an awakening.

© Donna Arthur Downs