FIGURE
The family pictures on the walls
The favorite chair
The narrow doorways
The collectables
The homemade banana bread
The dogs under feet
The cats over bags
Being walked out to the porch with the spouse to share their real concern
The quiet spoken sadness of an old man
The caring of spouses or daughters or sons we witness, we grow from
The warm rooms cold rooms odiferous rooms cluttered rooms
The view of the lake's edge now unattainable but by gaze
The birds at the window feeders bringing life and movement to a still life
The bills on their table, confusing, piling
The pills in the cupboard, growing, forgetting.
The greeting
The trust
The welcome
The faith
The everyday occurrence
A goal, a feat, a stretch
With persistence. With encouragement
To eat to talk to breathe to reach to sit to smile to think
The goodbye at the end. Last session.
At times brief.
At times lingering.
A connection in time, in space
Not lightly erased.
A home has been shared.
Their life
Beyond their speech, their walk, their dressing.
A rare privilege
To enter the doorway to another's life
And to give care, right there.