Poem - Legacy

Legacy

By Carole Shukle

Copyright 1998

Thinking of “Downy”

for doing the laundry,

I penciled “s-o-f-t-n-e-r”

on my grocery list.

Frustrated, I drew a line

through it.

The second time,

I wrote “s-o-p-h-n-e-r.”

Panicked, I scribbled it out

like a child coloring.

FLASHES

OF MOM’S

ALZHEIMER’S

STRUCK

LIKE LIGHTNING

SINGEING

MY ESSENCE

WITH ZIGZAGS

OF WHITE-HOT FEAR.

Finally, I wrote “s-o-f-t-e-n-e-r.”

LIKE A DAM

BREAKING,

CASCADING

RELIEF

FLOODED

MY BODY.

I whispered thanks to God,

grabbed my car keys,

and went shopping .

*Published in Portals, Spring, 1999