John Bennett & Maia Penfold – 1981
Sturm und Drang
She’s 82
lives alone
her life
filled with
care givers &
pain a
broken hip
two strokes
no padding left
between the
vertebrae in
her spine.
Yesterday her
doctor
told her
she was
too far gone
for them to
squirt
whatever it is
they squirt
between
vertebrae to
alleviate pain
& then
alluded to
assisted suicide.
I’m rushing to
bring out her
last book of
poetry the
project ground
to a halt
around one poem
we can’t locate
that she
insists be
in there–
Sturm und Drang,
the story of her
whole courageous
life.
