Lady Lonely

Back and forth,
back and forth,
back and forth,
the chair rocks the lady I'm sitting with.

It's not the highest functioning wing of the ward
which means,
this lady before me is pretty much shell.
A carcass of a human body,
a reminder that life is fragile and
can at the same time destroy our souls.

My ear tunes itself to the creaking
my foot subconsciously tapping to
the sound of
the rock-ing,
the rock-ing,
the rock-ing
like a bassinet cradles the young,
and like a mother over her baby's bed,
I watch the lady.

She's not sleeping,
but she's definitely not here
in the sense that
she can tell you what day it is
or what time it is
or what she ate for dinner
or her name

My heart beats in time with her breath
In-Hale
Ex-Hale
In-Hale
Ex-Hale
and the cat at her feet stirs its tail
in protest of the lazy September sun.

I come on Wednesdays
to be in her quiet company,
because at least then
I'm not sitting in silence
at home.
alone.