D Hall

All their belongings
  downsized to one
  one night stand and
  1/2 small closet
  shared

Pictures of a lifetime
  scrapped down to
  just a few
  to explain a life
  in black & white
  in popping cards from
  grandchildren

One blanket and
  one favorite pillow
  name stitched unevenly
  on the frayed edges

Daytime and weekly
  schedule
  spelled out and sitting
  on the one night stand
  a life newly planned

She curled her hand around mine
  thin skin and purple veins popping
  my own preplanned schedule for her
  stopping

She looked out of her small window
  onto the little courtyard telling the
  story of the feisty cardinal and his
  lazy brother

Her eyes sparkled
  silently praying she could
  join them at will
  but it's not on her schedule
  and she forgot the code to the
  exit

She scratched her gray hair
  it was Saturday
  she looked at the schedule for shower
  Tuesday and Thursday
  the clock ticking a long
  lonely hour.