Susan - Mike Lerner

[Lawrence Robinson]

Susan

She and Don would often host dozens of friends,
We’d play, dance, drum and sing 
Faces alit by the cast iron stove burning 
Wood gathered from nearby fallen oak and redwood branches.

Ah, those carefree days building 
Sweat lodges, tee pees, clearing spaces for
Ceremony, hearts blown open 
Tears shed, voices crying out across the 
Vast chasm of souls born in this sliver of time
Reaching out to each other for solace and comfort.

There lies my friend, awake now
In a bed unable even to stand on her own
Let alone dance or sing again
In thanks of this we call life.

Before my own turn comes for this
I visit my friends one by one
Moving toward the last goal line,
We are in extra innings, wearing out, slowing down

Astonished still by the notion that we were here,
That we knew each other, that we would comfort
one and other at journey’s end
Perhaps looking out once more side by side
Into the dark night of our improbable existence. 

	- Mike Lerner
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