ii. 1915 Overture: Domino Queen’s Leave-Taking Organ Recital Begins
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. — Mark Twain
It started on the day Tsar Nicolas’ stallion took control of Russia’s Army.
And over 102 years later — exactly when it was learned POTUS was called
a Moron by his Secretary of State — Mother’s life began to end in earnest.
Mom had already shed most of this earth, including the names of everyone
but her firstborn son and maybe daughter, but now both lips turned blue black.
Although recovering, upon awakening from the grasp of some nether world
enough to sit up and blink then accept a tablespoon of Gatorade or Ensure,
she’s not uttered a word. Even temptation of playing Dominos elicits nothing.
Tilting toward new existence, FT exhortations from great/grandkids’re ignored.
With Mother’s passing, there won’t be a soul left from my parents’ generation…
Dawn — eyes popping — Mom requests buttered English muffins and game board.
Via Skype, she greets: Hi, Gerry! so I guess all she needed was a good rest.
Animated, expressive and paying attention, better than during my last six visits;
it is very hard to believe or understand as her son or as a physician. What a kick!!
Made it from Wilson to Trump. Guess Mom didn’t get to this age just for nothing.
Dwindled as she was, old warhorse maintains vital signs anon’s orphan’d kill for.
Gerard Sarnat is a physician who’s built and staffed homeless and prison clinics as well as a Stanford professor and healthcare CEO. Currently Gerry is devoting energy/ resources to deal with global warming. Sarnat won the Poetry in the Arts First Place Award plus the Dorfman Prize, and has been nominated for a handful of recent Pushcarts plus Best of the Net Awards. Gerry is widely published in academic-related journals (University Chicago, Stanford, Oberlin, Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Pomona, Johns Hopkins, Wesleyan) plus national (Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, MiPOesias, American Journal Of Poetry, Poetry Quarterly, Poetry Circle, Poets And War, Cliterature, Qommunicate, Texas Review, Brooklyn Review, San Francisco Magazine, The Los Angeles Review and The New York Times) and international publications. He’s authored the collections Homeless Chronicles (2010), Disputes (2012), 17s (2014), Melting the Ice King (2016). Gerry’s been married since 1969 with three kids, five grandsons with a sixth incubating.
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