Poem for October 2011

Poem for October 2011 

The most difficult thing about a friend’s illness is, at first, knowing what to say.

                   -- Meredith Holmes

Uninvited Guest

by Bunny Breslin

Hey! I hear my friend’s voice from

behind the pillar. She walks slowly

a new limp leaning her body left  

with each step. We hug, follow

the server to a back corner.

One month before, the walk

was steady, the talk easy, and

lunch at Yours Truly peppered

with puns, the latest about kids

vacation, work.  Now, breast lump

scan, treatment plan, a vocabulary

for fluency in cancer sits with us

at our table.

My throat catches before I talk.

So what looks good? Above the menu

I see clear eyes and her gray-rooted

hair.  Why color now?  We laugh

that her kids want to shave

the Cleveland Indians mascot

onto the back of her head.

Our salads, savory and beautiful,

let us enjoy the hours we sit together.  

I offer my arm, and she holds on

to step down the curb.

It’s the time when summer lazyslips

into autumn, when the sun sits a little

lower, when I begin my poem.