[the Writing of Kuypers]
mom was in her second round of chemo
so I couldn’t visit daily,
so I’d call every day
and one day
and she answered,
it sounded like she was crying,
“Call back in an hour”
my husband was home from work early
we even drew a bath for me
and I told him what she said,
and he tried to think
of why she sounded that way: maybe
maybe she
but he tried to prepare me
when I called her back
I kept checking the clock
mom sounded fine,
she said,
of course I’d call back —
and I responded in shock,
I wanted to know what the problem was
she had a bad reaction
and her teeth were chattering
so the nurses were coming
so she was fine
###
mom was doing well
we had high hopes for her
doctors said two to six
and she was almost in remission
so we were sure she could survive
and so I planned a trip
my oldest sister planned to visit
we had all these great plans
but dad called, less than a week
said mom’s not doing well
lucky me, hurricane Ernesto
so I scheduled my flight
my mom died
when violence was supposed to hit
but the hurricane
well, even though my mom died
and all of the brothers and sisters
too say good bye to mom
and all of the neighbors
and most of them said to us,
and our response is always,
I stayed longer
without mom
and still, people see me and say
and my response is always,
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[JanetKuypers.com][Bio][Poems][Prose]
Where Else Would I Be
Janet Kuypers, 09/08/06 #1
and the hospital was 55 miles away
only weekly
to see how she was doing
I called in the afternoon
in a panicked voice
and she said to me in a rushed tone,
I said okay, and she hung up the phone
so he saw me in a panic from the call
to try to calm me down
what she sounded like
of every possibility
she heard that her sister, my Aunt Sally died,
maybe she got bad news about her health
for whatever mom was going to say
and after almost exactly an hour, I called
and before she explained anything to me,
“I’m glad you called me back”
what else could I do?
why wouldn’t I call her back?
and she told me
to the medication they just gave her
and she couldn’t speak
to give her something for the side effects
and I had nothing to worry about
for having only so many months to live
and thought she could beat the odds,
months, but maybe up to a year
from the first round if chemo
for over a year if she wanted to
to see my parents at their home in Florida
one month later
before I was flying to see them
I should change my flight, come earlier
was coming, I mean, it is hurricane season
for the first day the airlines would let me
while that hurricane was coming through
our shores, our home, bring destruction
didn’t touch shore, so we were safe
they were as safe as they could be
rushed to my mom and dad’s home,
to be there for dad
kept seeing us there, giving condolences
it’s good that you could be here
where else would we be
to help my dad function
it’s good that you could stay here
where else would I be
Copyright © 2006 Janet Kuypers.
Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers
on all art and all writings on this site completed
before 6/6/04. All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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