There was snow on the ground the day he was found
The sun shining bright, I in rare Martha energy abound
Used all my strength, perfect housewife synergy
Two o’clock: deliver clean laundry: begin quandary

Signs throughout the house had been solved before,
But when I opened a door, saw him curled on the floor
Knew I wrongly suspected a call-out emergency as I slept:
His life had ended before I logically processed it or wept:

He lay on the floor, no pulses in three places tested,
No breath misted a mirror held to his mouth: he seemed rested.
I called 911, the dispatcher’s reply left me ajar:
“Did you do CPR?” Why? His life was no more, spirit gone afar.

I related actions I cited above in a steady voice about my 35-year love.
His cat walked the length of him, never returned to the room again
“Your call is on all screens” I heard, then wanted to scream at
“I’m sending double–he’s one of our own”, our life ended with that.

EMTs arrived who confirmed death within five minutes of my call
An officer made me sit lest I fall, he was, I knew, their stalwart natural.
I called his doctor, further protocol unknown
Then began my hours on the telephone.

The doctor’s wife–my doc, longtime friend–said I would stay in shock,
Advised a dose of medicine so my brain would not downlock.
Commiserated about this loss, sudden end.
Dear Norma dismissed her guest, came to warm me, icy feet to tend.

Beth came to match needs to calls, endlessly wrote
While perched at the telephone, she flipped through her notes
I’d made the bad-news calls: to my daughter and son’s boss
To privately tell him in person–no mom-phoning this great loss

Of their closeness, now over. Son notified my “steps”
I called our church, or did Beth from her perch?
A minister came, I think, then undertakers–while his shell
Weighted a too-wide cart, through twisty halls, final ride–death ‘s knell

Seems like film stills six years later, played myriad times since it passed
Now he, my home, my family have changed, yet sorrow of that day lasts
His husk remains. Of all who loved him, I alone saw, felt, saw him dead,
My beshert–greatest love–my all-in-all–lives in memories, hearts, heads.

By Vicki Hill, 01/16/2014